Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Has $2.89 Million Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its Ross Stores stake by 73.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 16,058 shares valued at about $2.89 million.
• Analysts remain mostly constructive on ROST, with several firms raising price targets; the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target of $212.06.
• Ross Stores reported better-than-expected quarterly results with EPS of $2.00 and revenue of $6.64 billion, while also raising its dividend to $0.445 per share from $0.41.

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 73.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,058 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 6,781 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at $29,000. City Holding Co. raised its position 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 42.6% in the fourth 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. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 89.0% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Zacks Research downgraded Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $212.06.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the firm'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 in the company, valued at $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,331,883.20. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.6%

ROST stock opened at $225.81 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.49 and a 52 week high of $231.16. The company has a market capitalization of $72.74 billion, a PE ratio of 34.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.87. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $217.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.58.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business 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%. The business's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. 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%.

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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