Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 117 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,215 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 152.9% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Ross Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Five equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction 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 $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. This trade represents a 5.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $144.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.36 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $140.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.92. The stock has a market cap of $47.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.59%.

Ross Stores Company 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.