Schroder Investment Management Group Acquires 13,312 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,337 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 13,312 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $12,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.8% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 3,910 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc lifted its position in Ross Stores by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 662 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,983 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on ROST. Loop Capital decreased their price target 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. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $161.67.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of ROST traded down $0.98 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $126.90. 3,701,975 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,610,634. The company has a market cap of $41.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.49.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. Research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS 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 $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This is a boost from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the company'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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,868,364. This represents a 15.85 % 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 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently 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.