Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Bought by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 274.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,466 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 14,998 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $3,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ROST. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $5,917,000. Benchstone Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $20,229,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 29,550 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $4,471,000 after acquiring an additional 4,226 shares during the period. Alteri Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth about $433,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth about $176,973,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total value of $657,097.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 110,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,400,425.20. This trade represents a 4.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,868,364. This trade represents a 15.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Ross Stores from $130.00 to $128.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $150.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Ross Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $161.53.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Ross Stores stock traded up $1.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $150.66. The company had a trading volume of 2,491,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,650,566. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $134.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.40. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The company has a market capitalization of $49.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during 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, equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This is an increase from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.63%.

Ross Stores Company 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.