Banco Santander S.A. Takes $7.19 Million Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 47,757 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $7,188,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 262.1% during the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 97.8% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This represents a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This trade represents a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Citigroup cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.50.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST opened at $142.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.53 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $145.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.43.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.71%.

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.