ABN AMRO Bank N.V. Sells 148,792 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• ABN AMRO Bank N.V. cut its Ross Stores stake by 26.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 148,792 shares and leaving it with 408,338 shares valued at about $73.4 million.
• Ross Stores reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $2.00 versus $1.90 expected and revenue of $6.64 billion versus $6.42 billion estimated, with revenue up 12.2% year over year.
• The retailer raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.06.

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. reduced its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 26.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 408,338 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 148,792 shares during the period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. owned 0.13% of Ross Stores worth $73,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $234,000. Advisor OS LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at $210,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 14,745 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,656,000 after acquiring an additional 7,353 shares during the last quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth about $1,040,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 13,214 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,380,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $225.81 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.73. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $124.49 and a one year high of $231.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.16, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.87.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ROST shares. UBS Group set a $208.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,331,883.20. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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