SVB Wealth LLC Has $480,000 Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

SVB Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 51.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,469 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,172 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ross Stores by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,510,301 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,488,582,000 after buying an additional 137,952 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,361,375 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $779,543,000 after buying an additional 125,519 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ross Stores by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,036,224 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $640,624,000 after buying an additional 1,048,817 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Ross Stores by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,355,761 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $600,541,000 after buying an additional 662,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake 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 last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ROST. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.21.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $133.34 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $143.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.70. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.00 and a 12-month high of $151.12. The firm has a market cap of $44.90 billion, a PE ratio of 23.98, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04. 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 (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.19. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 41.15%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

Ross Stores declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the sale, the director now 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 accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 10,734 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $1,567,164.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 62,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,806. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.