Jump Financial LLC Has $6.31 Million Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 63.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 41,717 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 16,171 shares during the quarter. Jump Financial LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $6,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 151,255 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.8% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,772 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,675,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,307 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,967,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $244,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Ross Stores by 231.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,161 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 5,696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ROST. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ross Stores from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Five equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $160.87.

Ross Stores Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of ROST stock traded down $3.70 on Monday, reaching $135.93. The company had a trading volume of 480,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,654,687. The stock has a market cap of $44.70 billion, a PE ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average of $133.48 and a 200-day moving average of $142.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. This is a boost from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is presently 25.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was 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 approximately $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total transaction of $657,097.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 110,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,400,425.20. The trade was a 4.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.