Woodline Partners LP Takes $3.01 Million Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 19,924 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,014,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 152.9% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.67.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $137.26 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $45.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $138.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.97. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total transaction of $657,097.28. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 110,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,400,425.20. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.