Madison Asset Management LLC Decreases Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Madison Asset Management trimmed its Ross Stores stake by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 85,634 shares and leaving it with 1.51 million shares worth about $271.5 million.
• Ross Stores reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue expectations with $2.00 per share on $6.64 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445 per share, and analysts remain generally positive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and target price of $213.29.

Madison Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,507,387 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 85,634 shares during the quarter. Ross Stores accounts for about 3.1% of Madison Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Madison Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.47% of Ross Stores worth $271,541,000 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. Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 133,434 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $24,037,000 after buying an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $465,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,464,567 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $263,827,000 after acquiring an additional 34,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs grew its position in Ross Stores by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs now owns 13,511 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,434,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at $22,331,883.20. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $217.67 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $217.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.06. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.49 and a 12 month high of $231.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business 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 a boost 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is currently 26.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price target on Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $213.29.

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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