Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Purchased by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,892,289 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 17,813 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned about 0.57% of Ross Stores worth $286,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hahn Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $11,203,000 after purchasing an additional 21,500 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 11.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth approximately $269,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Ross Stores by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 10.6% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Citigroup upgraded Ross Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.87.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:ROST traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $138.22. 2,294,456 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,665,097. The company has a market capitalization of $45.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. 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 fifty day moving average of $133.35 and a 200 day moving average of $142.71. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.36 and a twelve month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This is a boost from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is presently 25.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,868,364. This trade represents a 15.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of Ross Stores 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 in the company, valued at $17,760,529.79. This represents a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company 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.