Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Sells 22,400 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Kornitzer Capital Management cut its Ross Stores stake by 51.3% in Q4, selling 22,400 shares and retaining 21,225 shares valued at about $3.82 million.
• Company insiders have been selling recently — including COO Michael Hartshorn (15,813 shares) and CMO Karen Sykes (5,506 shares) — with insiders offloading a total of 25,756 shares (~$5.52 million) over the past three months.
• Analysts remain largely positive (consensus "Moderate Buy", average target $212.06), and Ross recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.445 (annual $1.78).

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS trimmed its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 51.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,225 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 22,400 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $3,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,411,000. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,790,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 84.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 227,340 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $34,645,000 after acquiring an additional 104,270 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 130,610 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $19,904,000 after acquiring an additional 7,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Planning Hawaii Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $1,542,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ROST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 116,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,935,577.48. This represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $228.71 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average is $215.51 and its 200 day moving average is $190.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a market capitalization of $73.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.87. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.49 and a fifty-two week high of $230.44.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. 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. Ross Stores's payout ratio 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.

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