Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 20.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,121,407 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 548,963 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.64% of Ross Stores worth $320,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hahn Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $11,203,000 after purchasing an additional 21,500 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,152,690,000 after buying an additional 807,850 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $269,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $17,524,000 after acquiring an additional 11,060 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores
In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total value of $1,481,947.60. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares in the company, valued at $7,868,364. This trade represents a 15.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were 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. This represents a 5.11 % 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. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.
Ross Stores Stock Up 1.4 %
Shares of ROST traded up $1.94 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $143.45. 657,266 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,647,516. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company has a market cap of $47.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's 50 day moving average is $133.80 and its 200-day moving average is $143.11. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60.
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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.95 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Ross Stores Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is currently 25.63%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
ROST has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays set a $150.00 price target on Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup raised 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. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $161.67.
Read Our Latest Analysis on ROST
Ross Stores Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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