Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,740 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $13,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,510,301 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,488,582,000 after purchasing an additional 137,952 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,361,375 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $779,543,000 after purchasing an additional 125,519 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Ross Stores by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,036,224 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $640,624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,817 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,355,761 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $600,541,000 after purchasing an additional 662,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 84.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,742,218 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $550,429,000 after buying an additional 2,173,922 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $3,056,067.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total value of $3,056,067.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 114,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,616,788.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $140.27 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $145.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.23 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.77. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $99.00 and a one year high of $151.12.

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

Ross Stores announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 26.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on ROST. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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 to middle income households; and dd's DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.