Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $1.59 Million Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Securian Asset Management cut its Ross Stores position by 44% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 8,843 shares valued at about $1.59 million.
• Insider selling has been notable, with CMO Karen Sykes and Director Patricia H. Mueller both selling shares; insiders have sold 25,756 shares worth about $5.52 million over the past 90 days.
• Ross Stores reported better-than-expected quarterly results, including EPS of $2.00 and revenue of $6.64 billion, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445 per share.

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 44.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,843 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 6,941 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ethic Inc. boosted its position in Ross Stores by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 23,772 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $4,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,847 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,411,000. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,790,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Ross Stores by 84.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 227,340 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $34,645,000 after acquiring an additional 104,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Planning Hawaii Inc. acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,542,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of Ross Stores 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 sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Down 5.0%

ROST stock opened at $214.55 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $69.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.46, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.87. The business's fifty day moving average price is $217.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.63. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.49 and a fifty-two week high of $231.16.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ROST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.06.

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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