Radnor Capital Management LLC Buys 1,750 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Radnor Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 40.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,070 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,750 shares during the quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hahn Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $11,203,000 after purchasing an additional 21,500 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 274.3% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 20,466 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $3,096,000 after buying an additional 14,998 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,152,690,000 after buying an additional 807,850 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth about $269,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In related news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 139,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. This trade represents a 5.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 over the last ninety days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $158.67.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.5%

Ross Stores stock traded down $2.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $140.08. The stock had a trading volume of 2,159,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,703,808. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.14. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $141.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.03. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The company had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.59%.

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.