Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Buys 4,955 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Kestra Private Wealth Services increased its stake in Ross Stores by 117.1%, buying 4,955 shares to hold 9,186 shares worth about $1.655 million according to the latest SEC filing.
• Ross Stores beat quarterly expectations with $2.00 EPS vs. $1.90 and revenue of $6.64B (up 12.2% YoY), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445 ($1.78 annualized), and trades with a market cap near $73.4B and a P/E of 34.46.
• Insiders sold 25,756 shares (~$5.52M) in the last three months — including sales by COO Michael Hartshorn and CMO Karen Sykes — leaving insiders with 2.10% ownership while institutional investors own about 86.86% of the stock.

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 117.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,186 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 4,955 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,762,583 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,487,720,000 after acquiring an additional 180,182 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 4,747,639 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $605,704,000 after acquiring an additional 426,370 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,655,932 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $709,518,000 after acquiring an additional 252,284 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,045,346 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $616,470,000 after acquiring an additional 375,470 shares during the period. Finally, Marshfield Associates lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 4,020,413 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $612,671,000 after acquiring an additional 157,385 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $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 is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004 in the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of ROST opened at $227.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.49 and a 1 year high of $230.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $215.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.74. The firm has a market cap of $73.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.92.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 26.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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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