Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Sells 2,296 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lowered its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,823 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 2,296 shares during the quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth approximately $649,318,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 8,209.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 2,381,201 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $360,204,000 after purchasing an additional 2,352,543 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth $230,204,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth $173,329,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 137.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $299,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,774 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $166.00 to $161.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five investment 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $160.87.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST traded up $2.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $137.72. 447,298 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,656,295. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company's 50-day moving average price is $133.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.74. The company has a market cap of $45.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. On average, analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This is an increase from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 25.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total value of $657,097.28. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 110,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,400,425.20. This represents a 4.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $1,481,947.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.