Rafferty Asset Management LLC Purchases 13,421 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,705 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 13,421 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $18,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 152.9% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ROST. StockNews.com raised shares of Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $130.00 to $128.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $161.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the completion of 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 trade represents a 5.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of ROST traded up $1.34 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $154.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,896,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,644,849. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $135.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.36 and a 52-week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

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.