Wealth Alliance Decreases Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Wealth Alliance lowered its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,094 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 127 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter worth $27,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the first quarter worth $29,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 240 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

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 other Ross Stores news, Director Larree M. Renda sold 4,168 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.89, for a total transaction of $616,405.52. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,166 shares in the company, valued at $468,219.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 13,860 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 61,657 shares in the company, 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.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $131.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $44.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.04. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.00 and a 12 month high of $151.12. The business’s 50-day moving average is $144.19 and its 200 day moving average is $134.41.

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

Ross Stores announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.10 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 26.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ROST. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $144.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores 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 to middle income households; and dd's DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.