Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Bought by Louisbourg Investments Inc.

Louisbourg Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 19.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,610 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 3,145 shares during the period. Louisbourg Investments Inc.'s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hahn Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $11,203,000 after acquiring an additional 21,500 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 274.3% in the 4th 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 period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,152,690,000 after buying an additional 807,850 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 524 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $17,221,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.5%

ROST stock opened at $131.15 on Tuesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company has a market capitalization of $42.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.14. The firm's 50-day moving average is $141.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Ross Stores's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total value of $657,097.28. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 110,365 shares in the company, valued at $14,400,425.20. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,059 shares of company stock worth $3,768,677. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup raised shares of Ross Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $159.53.

Ross Stores 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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