Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Shares Sold by Lbp Am Sa

Key Points

• Major institutional sell-off: Lbp Am Sa cut its stake in Ross Stores by 82.6% in Q4, selling 20,788 shares and leaving it with 4,385 shares valued at about $790,000.
• Analysts and results bullish: Ross beat quarterly EPS ($2.00 vs. $1.90) and revenue estimates, trades near its 1‑year high around $228, and has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $208.29 and multiple recent target upgrades.
• Insider selling and dividend increase: Insiders sold roughly 25,756 shares (~$5.52M) in the last quarter while Ross raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445 (annualized $1.78, yield 0.8%).

Lbp Am Sa decreased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 82.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,385 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 20,788 shares during the period. Lbp Am Sa's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,762,583 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,487,720,000 after buying an additional 180,182 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 4,747,639 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $605,704,000 after buying an additional 426,370 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,655,932 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $709,518,000 after buying an additional 252,284 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,045,346 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $616,470,000 after buying an additional 375,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshfield Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 4,020,413 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $612,671,000 after buying an additional 157,385 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ROST. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $199.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $221.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.29.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $227.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $73.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $210.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.49 and a 1-year high of $228.71.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. Ross Stores's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total transaction of $3,398,371.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. The trade was a 11.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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