Natixis Has $13.40 Million Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Natixis lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 223.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,603 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 61,199 shares during the quarter. Natixis' holdings in Ross Stores were worth $13,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 152.9% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 434.1% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $139.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 967,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,658,930. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $133.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.68. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ROST shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays set a $150.00 target price on Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.87.

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.