Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC Cuts Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC cut its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 31.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 204,305 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 93,561 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC owned 0.06% of Ross Stores worth $28,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 919 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,133 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Ross Stores by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 240 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 5,309 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 961 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Ross Stores from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $144.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $155.11.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Ross Stores stock traded down $1.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $133.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,793,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,493,398. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $151.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock's 50 day moving average is $139.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.39. The stock has a market cap of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.06.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.19. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 41.15%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This is a boost from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is presently 26.44%.

Ross Stores declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total value of $329,285.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at $278,257.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 13,860 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.46, for a total transaction of $2,043,795.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,941.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,396,178 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.