S Bank Fund Management Ltd Buys 6,000 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd increased its Ross Stores stake by 19.9% in Q4, buying 6,000 shares to hold 36,085 shares worth about $6.5M, and institutional investors now own 86.86% of the stock.
• Company insiders sold a total of 25,756 shares last quarter, including COO Michael J. Hartshorn's 15,813-share sale (~$3.40M) and CMO Karen Sykes' 5,506-share sale (~$1.17M), cutting insider ownership to 2.10%.
• Wall Street sentiment is mostly positive—16 Buys vs. 5 Holds with an average price target of $212.06—and Ross recently beat Q earnings estimates (EPS $2.00 vs. $1.90) while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.445 ($1.78 annual).

S Bank Fund Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,085 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the quarter. S Bank Fund Management Ltd's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $6,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in Ross Stores by 7,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. City Holding Co. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1,080.0% in the fourth quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 162.6% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 239 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ROST shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group set a $208.00 price target on Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $212.06.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $227.42 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.74. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.49 and a 1 year high of $230.44.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.