Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Acquires Shares of 20,842 Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 20,842 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $3,153,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ROST. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 152.9% during the 4th 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. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value 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 represents a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Ross Stores from $166.00 to $161.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $160.87.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Ross Stores stock traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $139.63. 2,287,417 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,660,164. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The firm has a market cap of $45.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $133.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.95 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. This is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. 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.