Coho Partners Ltd. Sells 13,247 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Coho Partners Ltd. reduced its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. by 2.5%, selling 13,247 shares and maintaining ownership of 507,282 shares, which represents about 4.8% of its portfolio.
• Institutional investors own 86.86% of Ross Stores, with notable increases in holdings from firms like Vanguard Group Inc. and EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. during the first quarter.
• Ross Stores recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405, with the business reporting a net margin of 9.60% and an EPS of $1.56 for the latest quarter.

Coho Partners Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 507,282 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 13,247 shares during the quarter. Ross Stores accounts for about 4.8% of Coho Partners Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Coho Partners Ltd. owned about 0.16% of Ross Stores worth $64,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 17.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $4,360,413,000 after purchasing an additional 4,946,101 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 59.3% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,055,088 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $518,200,000 after buying an additional 1,509,815 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $122,043,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in Ross Stores by 184.4% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,080,532 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $138,081,000 after buying an additional 700,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 21.5% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,392,475 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $177,944,000 after purchasing an additional 246,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ROST shares. BTIG Research started coverage on Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $146.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $162.33.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total transaction of $437,131.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 88,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,169,865.15. The trade was a 3.21% 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, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total transaction of $607,040.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 106,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,149,236.88. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,720 shares of company stock valued at $7,761,212. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of ROST opened at $155.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $50.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $149.51 and a 200 day moving average of $141.56. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $158.69.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.02. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.71%.

Ross Stores 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.

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