Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires 6,040 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 146,940 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,040 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $26,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Somerset Trust Co grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 14,788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co now owns 3,399 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at $22,331,883.20. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 116,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,935,577.48. The trade was a 11.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ROST. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.06.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $227.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $215.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $190.74. The company has a market cap of $73.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.92. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.49 and a 12 month high of $230.44.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The company had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 26.93%.

About Ross Stores

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off?price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand?name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.