Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Acquired by Vident Advisory LLC

Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,466 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hahn Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $11,203,000 after buying an additional 21,500 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 274.3% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 20,466 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,096,000 after buying an additional 14,998 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,152,690,000 after buying an additional 807,850 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth $269,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.67.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $137.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $138.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.97. The stock has a market cap of $45.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.62, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $163.60.

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

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. This trade represents a 5.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.