Whipplewood Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 91.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,622 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 776 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hahn Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $11,203,000 after acquiring an additional 21,500 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 274.3% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 20,466 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,096,000 after acquiring an additional 14,998 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,152,690,000 after acquiring an additional 807,850 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $269,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ROST. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on Ross Stores from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Ross Stores from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Five 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total value of $657,097.28. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $144.03 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $140.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 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.