D.A. Davidson & CO. Buys 5,745 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,275 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 5,745 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $12,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Somerset Trust Co raised its position in Ross Stores by 0.4% in 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 last quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was 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 approximately $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at $22,331,883.20. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $221.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $212.06.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST stock opened at $226.17 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $72.86 billion, a PE ratio of 34.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $213.92 and a 200-day moving average of $189.69. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $124.49 and a one year high of $230.44.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.Ross Stores's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ROST? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.