LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Sells 1,667 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. sold 1,667 shares of Ross Stores, reducing its holdings by 46.7% to 1,900 shares, worth approximately $242,000.
• Q1 2023 saw significant increases in ownership as multiple institutional investors, including Vanguard and EdgePoint, expanded their stakes in Ross Stores.
• Analysts generally maintain a positive outlook on Ross Stores, with a consensus target price of $160.67 and several firms raising their price targets recently.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 46.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,900 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 1,667 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $4,360,413,000 after purchasing an additional 4,946,101 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 59.3% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,055,088 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $518,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,815 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 1st quarter valued at $122,043,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 184.4% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,080,532 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $138,081,000 after purchasing an additional 700,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,392,475 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $177,944,000 after purchasing an additional 246,648 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ROST. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total value of $607,040.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 106,413 shares in the company, valued at $16,149,236.88. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total value of $437,131.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 88,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,169,865.15. This trade represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,283 shares of company stock worth $6,789,418 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST stock opened at $152.64 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $147.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market cap of $49.64 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.18. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $158.69.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 25.71%.

Ross Stores Company Profile

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.

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