Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Shares Purchased by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Key Points

• Institutional investors control 86.86% of Ross Stores, with Wealthfront Advisers boosting its stake 16.4% to 39,703 shares (~$7.15M) and large positions reported from Holocene, Marshall Wace and Bank of America.
• Insiders have been selling: COO Michael Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares and CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares on March 25, and insiders disposed of 25,756 shares (~$5.52M) in the past 90 days (insider ownership 2.10%).
• Operational results and payout: Ross beat Q results with $2.00 EPS vs. $1.90 expected and revenue of $6.64B (+12.2% YoY), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445 (annualized $1.78, yield ~0.8%).

Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,703 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 5,597 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $7,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $351,763,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in 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 lifted its position in 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. acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $102,281,000. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP lifted its position in 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 institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. The trade was a 11.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $225.08 on Thursday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.49 and a twelve month high of $230.44. 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 company has a market capitalization of $72.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.48.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.445 dividend. This is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group set a $208.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.06.

Ross Stores Company Profile

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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