Comerica Bank Has $10.52 Million Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Comerica Bank trimmed its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 40.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,516 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 47,793 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $10,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 8.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,965,695 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $295,857,000 after acquiring an additional 151,255 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 231.1% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,161 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 5,696 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 3,910 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,875 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Ross Stores by 137.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $299,583,000 after buying an additional 1,144,774 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,868,364. This trade represents a 15.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Ross Stores from $166.00 to $161.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group cut their target price 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. Barclays set a $150.00 target price on Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $160.73.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ ROST traded up $1.42 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $143.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,714,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,971,946. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $133.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.39. The company has a market capitalization of $47.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60. 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 (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. Research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is an increase from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.