Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Key Points

• Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its stake in Ross Stores by 6.8%, selling 217,792 shares and leaving 2,989,411 shares (about 0.92% ownership) valued at roughly $538.5 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers — Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares and CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares, with insiders offloading 25,756 shares worth $5.52 million in the last quarter and holding 2.2% of the stock.
• Ross beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.00 vs. $1.90; revenue $6.64B vs. $6.42B), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445, and analysts have lifted targets, leaving a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of $208.29.

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,989,411 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 217,792 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.92% of Ross Stores worth $538,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth about $351,763,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position 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 position 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. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth about $102,281,000. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP raised its position 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at $460,147.67. This trade represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at $22,331,883.20. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004 in the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ROST. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim raised their target price on Ross Stores from $199.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.29.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $221.16 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $206.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.77. The company has a market capitalization of $71.25 billion, a PE ratio of 33.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.49 and a 52-week high of $226.63.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company 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 a boost from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.93%.

Ross Stores 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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