16,136 Shares in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Bought by OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd

Key Points

• OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp opened a new position in Ross Stores by buying 16,136 shares in Q4, valued at about $2.91 million.
• Ross beat Q4 expectations with EPS of $2.00 (vs. $1.90 est.) and revenue of $6.64 billion (up 12.2% year‑over‑year), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445 per share.
• Analysts hold a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $208.29, and several firms recently raised targets (e.g., Citigroup $240, Wells Fargo $235).

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 16,136 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $2,907,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Somerset Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 14,788 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co now owns 3,399 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $221.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group set a $208.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 46.56% 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 worth $5,521,004. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $226.34 on Thursday. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $212.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.84. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.49 and a twelve month high of $230.44. The firm has a market cap of $72.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. 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.

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