V Square Quantitative Management LLC Purchases Shares of 3,086 Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,086 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $556,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Somerset Trust Co increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 14,788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co now owns 3,399 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $612,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.29.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $221.16 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $206.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.50. The company has a market cap of $71.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.49 and a 12-month high of $226.63.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.