Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 324,693 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 374.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 411,404 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 324,693 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $52,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,984 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.7% in the second quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 30,690 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,915,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 13.5% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,869 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $866,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth $4,322,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $22,944,338. This trade represents a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen C. Brinkley sold 6,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.97, for a total transaction of $971,793.89. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 57,012 shares in the company, valued at $8,607,101.64. This represents a 10.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 52,720 shares of company stock worth $7,761,212. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Citigroup upped their price target on Ross Stores from $146.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (up from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.33.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $156.75 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $158.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $150.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.79. The stock has a market cap of $50.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.88, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 25.71%.

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.