International Assets Investment Management LLC Has $998,000 Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

International Assets Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 31.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,538 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,537 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $998,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Ross Stores by 1.9% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,762,583 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,487,720,000 after buying an additional 180,182 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP raised its stake in Ross Stores by 9.9% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 4,747,639 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $605,704,000 after buying an additional 426,370 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Ross Stores by 5.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,655,932 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $709,518,000 after buying an additional 252,284 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Ross Stores by 10.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,045,346 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $616,470,000 after buying an additional 375,470 shares during the period. Finally, Marshfield Associates raised its stake in Ross Stores by 4.1% in the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 4,020,413 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $612,671,000 after buying an additional 157,385 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This trade represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 116,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ROST. Barclays increased their target price on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group set a $208.00 target price on Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research lowered Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.06.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of ROST stock opened at $225.81 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $217.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.73. The company has a market cap of $72.74 billion, a PE ratio of 34.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.87. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.49 and a fifty-two week high of $231.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.58.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.93%.

Ross Stores Company 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.