Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Invests $78,000 in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 518 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $78,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 152.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 434.1% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In related news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 139,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. This trade represents a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $125.42 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $163.60. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $137.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.77.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.40.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company’s Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.