QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires 14,452 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Ross Stores by 30.7%, acquiring an additional 14,452 shares, bringing its total holdings to 61,503 shares valued at approximately $7.85 million.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Ross Stores, with multiple firms raising their price targets, including Robert W. Baird, UBS Group, and Wells Fargo, indicating a consensus target price of $160.67.
• Insider activity includes CEO James Grant Conroy selling 39,351 shares of the stock, reflecting a significant decrease in his holdings by over 20%.

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 30.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,503 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 14,452 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $7,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,458 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,359,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 3.8% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,932 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 50.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 217 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 36.6% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ROST. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.67.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other news, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $5,745,246.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 157,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,944,338. This represents a 20.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total value of $607,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 106,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,149,236.88. This represents a 3.62% 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 valued at $6,789,418 over the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $152.64 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $49.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.16. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $158.69.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.59 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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