Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Buys 8,040 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. by 23.2%, acquiring an additional 8,040 shares and bringing its total holdings to 42,676 shares valued at $5.45 million.
• Recent insider trading saw CMO Karen Fleming and CEO James Grant Conroy sell significant shares, decreasing their ownership by 3.21% and 20.03%, respectively.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Ross Stores, with Wells Fargo increasing theirs from $165 to $175, resulting in a consensus price target of $162.33 and a "Moderate Buy" rating.

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 23.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,676 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 8,040 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $5,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 50.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 217 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 372.5% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 241 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 36.6% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total transaction of $437,131.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 88,335 shares in the company, valued at $13,169,865.15. The trade was a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $5,745,246.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 157,153 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,944,338. The trade was a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,720 shares of company stock worth $7,761,212. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ROST shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $162.33.

Ross Stores Trading Up 4.8%

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $154.77 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $50.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.18. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $148.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.17. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $158.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 25.71%.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd's DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company's Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd's DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.

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