Altfest L J & Co. Inc. Trims Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Altfest L J & Co. Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 30.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,702 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 1,206 shares during the quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new position in Ross Stores during the second quarter worth $27,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the first quarter worth $29,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 458.0% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Rock Creek Group LP acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the third quarter worth $35,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total value of $3,056,067.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,616,788.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $146.76 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $151.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.76.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.19. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.15% and a net margin of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 5th that permits the company to buyback $2.10 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ROST. Loop Capital increased their target price on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ross Stores from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Ross Stores from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.21.

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