Man Group plc Has $30.11 Million Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Man Group plc reduced its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 71.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 199,069 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 504,463 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.06% of Ross Stores worth $30,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,515,891 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,952,170,000 after buying an additional 3,995,760 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,287,162 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,250,423,000 after purchasing an additional 135,117 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,152,690,000 after purchasing an additional 807,850 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth $649,318,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Ross Stores by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,805,427 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $575,647,000 after buying an additional 154,486 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 139,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. This represents a 5.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at $11,826,540.99. This trade represents a 5.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950 in the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST traded up $1.34 during trading on Monday, reaching $154.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,896,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,644,849. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $135.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is an increase from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 25.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $130.00 to $128.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $161.53.

About Ross Stores

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.