Bessemer Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 359,283 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 8,563 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Ross Stores worth $54,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth about $649,318,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised 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 worth $360,204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,352,543 shares during the period. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,204,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth approximately $173,329,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 137.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $299,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,774 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently 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 stock was sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the transaction, 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 through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following 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 trade represents a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950 in the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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Ross Stores Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST traded down $2.36 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $141.30. The company had a trading volume of 933,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,649,946. The stock has a market cap of $46.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.05. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. This is a boost from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores's payout ratio is presently 25.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays set a $150.00 price target on Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.87.

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.