5,482 Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Shares Sold by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management reduced its Ross Stores position by 5,482 shares, or 0.4%, leaving it with 1.21 million shares valued at approximately $283.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.86% of the company.
• Analysts remain generally bullish, with Ross Stores receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $263.76; several firms recently raised their targets.
• Ross Stores reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $2.66 per share, beating estimates of $1.95, while revenue rose 13.3% year over year to $6.26 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, yielding approximately 0.8% annually.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. decreased its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,212,908 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 5,482 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned 0.38% of Ross Stores worth $283,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,938,711,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,643,656 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $3,116,902,000 after purchasing an additional 734,009 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,024,203,000. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter worth $1,937,995,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 89.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,615,682 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,408,148,000 after buying an additional 3,118,591 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ROST. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Ross Stores from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Ross Stores from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.76.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $237.24 on Wednesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $154.87 and a 12-month high of $257.00. The company has a market cap of $75.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $232.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.83.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The apparel retailer reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 39.29% and a net margin of 10.85%. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.4450 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 21.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Conroy sold 49,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.48, for a total transaction of $11,291,563.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,830,408.52. This represents a 26.81% 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, insider Stephen Brinkley sold 6,424 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.66, for a total value of $1,475,335.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,665 shares in the company, valued at $11,865,383.90. This represents a 11.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc is an off-price apparel and home fashion retailer headquartered in Dublin, California. The company operates primarily through its Ross Dress for Less stores, which offer branded and designer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home merchandise at discounts to regular department and specialty store prices.

Ross Stores also operates dd's DISCOUNTS, a chain focused on value-oriented apparel, accessories, footwear, and home products. Both retail formats generally purchase merchandise opportunistically from manufacturers, department stores, and other suppliers, allowing the company to offer changing assortments and discounted prices.

Founded in 1950, Ross Stores serves customers across the United States through its store network and e-commerce presence.

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