Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Purchased by Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 131.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,875 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 9,595 shares during the quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 1.8% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 3,910 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,474 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 662 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, 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

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ross Stores from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $160.87.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $137.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.71. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.36 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The firm has a market cap of $45.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, 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 current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. 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. Ross Stores's payout ratio is presently 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.

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