Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Purchased by Private Portfolio Partners LLC

Private Portfolio Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 77.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,826 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Private Portfolio Partners LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 8.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,965,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $295,857,000 after acquiring an additional 151,255 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 31,460 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 101.5% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 5,761 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,902 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 667.9% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 25,324 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,812,000 after purchasing an additional 22,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the third quarter worth about $1,378,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 139,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,101 shares of company stock valued at $2,300,905 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays set a $150.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.40.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $132.37 on Thursday. 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 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $136.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.32. The company has a market capitalization of $43.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.63%.

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.