Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Sold by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 6.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,873 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 2,949 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $5,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $649,318,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,515,891 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,952,170,000 after buying an additional 3,995,760 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 8,209.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 2,381,201 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $360,204,000 after buying an additional 2,352,543 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $230,204,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,336,312 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $504,684,000 after buying an additional 1,368,571 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total transaction of $657,097.28. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 110,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,400,425.20. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,567 shares of company stock valued at $2,812,024. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.2%

ROST stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $127.87. 4,898,082 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,766,879. The company has a market capitalization of $41.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $140.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $141.30.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 38.77%. Ross Stores's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is currently 25.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $159.53.

About Ross Stores

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.