Mission Wealth Management LP Cuts Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Mission Wealth Management LP lowered its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,445 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 699 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $440,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ROST. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 50.7% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 217 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the first quarter worth $29,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its position in Ross Stores by 372.5% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 241 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, October 31st. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (up from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.67.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $162.23 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.58. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.36 and a 52-week high of $162.74.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is 25.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $5,745,246.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 157,153 shares in the company, valued at $22,944,338. This represents a 20.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total value of $607,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 106,413 shares in the company, valued at $16,149,236.88. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,720 shares of company stock worth $7,761,212. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

About Ross Stores

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.