Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Has $57.48 Million Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. decreased its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 28.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 379,986 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 153,400 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.12% of Ross Stores worth $57,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 152.9% during the fourth 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 during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROST. 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 report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup raised shares of Ross Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.87.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total transaction of $657,097.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 110,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,400,425.20. This represents a 4.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 in the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:ROST traded down $0.22 on Friday, hitting $139.71. 2,289,826 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,668,112. The company has a market cap of $45.94 billion, a PE ratio of 22.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $133.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.67.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This is an increase from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.63%.

About Ross Stores

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.