First Eagle Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• First Eagle Investment Management increased its stake in Ross Stores by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 1,464,567 shares worth about $263.8 million.
• Institutional interest in the stock remains strong, with hedge funds and other investors owning 86.86% of Ross Stores. Several firms also boosted positions, while insiders sold shares over the past three months.
• Ross Stores reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445 per share from $0.41.

First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,464,567 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 34,191 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.45% of Ross Stores worth $263,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $351,763,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 1,908.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,816,763 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $276,857,000 after acquiring an additional 1,726,324 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,222,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657,008 shares in the last quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth about $102,281,000. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 184.6% during the 3rd quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 968,290 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $147,558,000 after acquiring an additional 628,042 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of Ross Stores 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 116,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. The trade was a 11.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This trade represents a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, April 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price target 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $212.06.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $214.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $69.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.63. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.49 and a 12-month high of $231.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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