Private Portfolio Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Private Portfolio Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 77.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,826 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hahn Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 21,500 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at $269,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $17,524,000 after acquiring an additional 11,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 137.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $299,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,774 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,760,529.79. This trade represents a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,101 shares of company stock worth $2,300,905 over the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ROST. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.40.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $132.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.32.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

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.