Comerica Bank Sells 5,139 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Comerica Bank trimmed its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,431 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 5,139 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $11,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH bought a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at about $231,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 69,275 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $12,479,000 after purchasing an additional 5,745 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 117.1% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 9,186 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,655,000 after purchasing an additional 4,955 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 146,940 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $26,470,000 after purchasing an additional 6,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 22,359 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $4,028,000 after purchasing an additional 4,145 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $225.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $214.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.12, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.92. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.49 and a 52 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.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total transaction of $3,398,371.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,935,577.48. The trade was a 11.99% 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. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.06.

About Ross Stores

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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