12,205 Shares in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Purchased by Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda

Key Points

• Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda bought a new position of 12,205 shares of Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) in Q4, valued at approximately $2.199 million, and institutional investors now own about 86.86% of the company.
• Ross beat quarterly expectations with EPS $2.00 (vs. $1.90 est.) and revenue $6.64 billion (+12.2% YoY), and the board raised the quarterly dividend to $0.445 (annualized $1.78; yield 0.8%).
• Insiders sold roughly 25,756 shares (≈$5.52 million) over the past three months, while analysts remain largely positive with 16 Buy and 5 Hold ratings and a consensus target of $212.06.

Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda purchased a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 12,205 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $2,199,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,411,000. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,790,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 84.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 227,340 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $34,645,000 after acquiring an additional 104,270 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 6.0% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 130,610 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $19,904,000 after acquiring an additional 7,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Planning Hawaii Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,542,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $225.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.05, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.92. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.49 and a fifty-two week high of $230.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $214.96 and a 200 day moving average of $190.48.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at $22,331,883.20. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday. Zacks Research lowered Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.06.

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.

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