Optimize Financial Inc Invests $510,000 in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,371 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 135,117 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,152,690,000 after acquiring an additional 807,850 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $649,318,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Ross Stores by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,805,427 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $575,647,000 after purchasing an additional 154,486 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,582,472 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $541,921,000 after purchasing an additional 142,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total transaction of $657,097.28. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 110,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,400,425.20. The trade was a 4.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and set a $165.00 target price (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased 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, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $160.87.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $139.63. 2,287,417 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,658,146. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.01.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

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.