Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Lowers Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lessened its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 836,671 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 14,244 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Ross Stores worth $115,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 458.0% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Ross Stores by 52.9% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 240 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $133.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.44. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.00 and a 52-week high of $151.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.06 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 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 (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.3675 dividend. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 26.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Larree M. Renda sold 4,168 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.89, for a total value of $616,405.52. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,166 shares in the company, valued at $468,219.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Larree M. Renda sold 4,168 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.89, for a total value of $616,405.52. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,166 shares in the company, valued at $468,219.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 13,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.46, for a total value of $2,043,795.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,941.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $144.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.21.

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.