Xponance Inc. Has $10.49 Million Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Xponance Inc. lowered its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 75,773 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,356 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $10,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,510,301 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,488,582,000 after purchasing an additional 137,952 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 1.7% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,361,375 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $779,543,000 after buying an additional 125,519 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 21.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,036,224 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $640,624,000 after buying an additional 1,048,817 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 14.1% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,355,761 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $600,541,000 after buying an additional 662,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 84.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,742,218 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $550,429,000 after buying an additional 2,173,922 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $150.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $143.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.21.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $131.90. The company had a trading volume of 181,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,934,517. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.00 and a 12 month high of $151.12. The firm has a market cap of $44.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $144.19 and a 200-day moving average of $134.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.19. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 41.15%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.44%.

Ross Stores announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to buy up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, Director Larree M. Renda sold 4,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.89, for a total transaction of $616,405.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $468,219.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ross Stores news, Director Larree M. Renda sold 4,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.89, for a total transaction of $616,405.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $468,219.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $3,056,067.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.