First American Trust FSB Increases Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

First American Trust FSB grew its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,473 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the quarter. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $5,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,127,802,000 after purchasing an additional 67,861 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,152,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,222,915,000 after buying an additional 34,475 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 4.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,025,309,000 after buying an additional 316,652 shares during the period. Marshfield Associates boosted its position in Ross Stores by 0.4% during the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $588,337,000 after acquiring an additional 14,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Ross Stores by 64.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,922 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.40.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST stock opened at $129.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.42.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.