Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Buys Shares of 13,098 Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 13,098 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,971,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PGGM Investments lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 724.1% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 24,848 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,611,000 after buying an additional 21,833 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,124 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after buying an additional 4,228 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 917.2% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,440,000 after buying an additional 26,598 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,737,042 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $397,747,000 after buying an additional 254,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 144,310 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $21,720,000 after buying an additional 10,384 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ROST shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST opened at $154.87 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $51.38 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.53 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $145.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.44.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.15%.

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.