Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Purchased by AXS Investments LLC

AXS Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 8.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,158 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 915 shares during the quarter. AXS Investments LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the first quarter worth $34,000. Ellevest Inc. increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 142.9% in the first quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 340 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the first quarter valued at $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.07, for a total transaction of $2,381,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 305,425 shares in the company, valued at $36,366,954.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.07, for a total value of $2,381,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 305,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,366,954.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 25,945 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.53, for a total value of $3,153,095.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 67,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,146,520.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,948 shares of company stock worth $10,643,727 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ROST shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, November 13th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, November 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.38.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST traded up $8.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $128.82. The stock had a trading volume of 9,018,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,238,928. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.00 and a twelve month high of $131.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The apparel retailer reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.11. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 39.34% and a net margin of 8.75%. The business had revenue of $4.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 5th will be issued a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 4th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.53%.

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 primarily to middle income households; and dd's DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.