Hartford Investment Management Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,831 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 293 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 59.9% in the 2nd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 1,554 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 153,149 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $19,539,000 after purchasing an additional 5,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 7,694 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total transaction of $607,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 106,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,149,236.88. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $5,745,246.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 157,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,944,338. This trade represents a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.67.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $151.52 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.36 and a 52-week high of $158.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $145.69 and a 200-day moving average of $138.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.28 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.02. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 37.37%. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 25.71%.

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.