Groupama Asset Managment Buys 6,653 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 278.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,040 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 6,653 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,369,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 45,476 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $6,879,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,287,162 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,250,423,000 after buying an additional 135,117 shares during the last quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,919 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $3,770,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 83,337 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $12,606,000 after buying an additional 13,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,479,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Ross Stores Trading Down 2.6 %

ROST traded down $3.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $126.90. The stock had a trading volume of 1,692,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,591,008. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $135.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95, 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.405 dividend. This is a boost from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on ROST shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "negative" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Barclays set a $150.00 target price on Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $161.00.

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.