Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Holdings Reduced by Fenimore Asset Management Inc

Key Points

• Fenimore Asset Management trimmed its Ross Stores stake by 4.6% in Q4, selling 73,307 shares and retaining 1,531,966 shares (valued at about $275.97M), which remains its largest holding and represents ~0.47% of ROST.
• Other institutions made sizable moves—Holocene, Marshall Wace and Bank of America added large positions—leaving hedge funds/institutions with about 86.9% ownership; analysts have a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average target of $212.06.
• Ross beat Q results (EPS $2.00 vs $1.90; revenue $6.64B vs $6.42B, up 12.2% YoY), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445 ($1.78 annual, 0.8% yield), and trades with a market cap near $73.7B and a PE of 34.6.

Fenimore Asset Management Inc cut its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,531,966 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 73,307 shares during the period. Ross Stores accounts for 5.7% of Fenimore Asset Management Inc's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Fenimore Asset Management Inc owned 0.47% of Ross Stores worth $275,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $351,763,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1,908.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,816,763 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $276,857,000 after acquiring an additional 1,726,324 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,222,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657,008 shares in the last quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $102,281,000. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 184.6% during the 3rd quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 968,290 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $147,558,000 after acquiring an additional 628,042 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ROST. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Zacks Research cut Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group set a $208.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.06.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $228.71 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $215.51 and its 200 day moving average is $190.99. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.49 and a fifty-two week high of $230.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.68 billion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.58.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The company had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. Ross Stores's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ross Stores's payout ratio is currently 26.93%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the sale, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at $24,935,577.48. The trade was a 11.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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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