2,561 Shares in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Bought by NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,561 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $478,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,511 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 47,790 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $8,647,000 after buying an additional 1,526 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 1,814 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northside Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 2,556 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.91, for a total transaction of $546,753.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 103,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,234,874.95. This trade represents a 2.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST stock opened at $216.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.87 billion, a PE ratio of 32.68, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $199.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $124.07 and a one year high of $216.80.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ROST. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $221.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group set a $208.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.29.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.