Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. Acquires New Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,414 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $523,185,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 515.8% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,756,881 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $243,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471,585 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 1,437.1% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,026,367 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $142,039,000 after purchasing an additional 959,594 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $102,083,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,722,885 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $653,600,000 after purchasing an additional 601,031 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 941 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $130,206.17. Following the transaction, the director now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at $134,634.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ross Stores from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. StockNews.com raised Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a 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 $159.06.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of ROST traded down $1.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $143.50. 3,550,702 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,144,261. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $108.35 and a 52 week high of $153.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50 day moving average is $143.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.48. The company has a market capitalization of $47.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.08.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The apparel retailer reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.11. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 9.60%. The business had revenue of $4.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.79%.

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.