Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Acquires 3,995,760 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,515,891 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,995,760 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.06% of Ross Stores worth $2,952,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $137.89 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.71. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The company has a market capitalization of $45.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. Analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 25.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 value of $956,653.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays set a $150.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $166.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.87.

Ross Stores 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.