AdvisorShares Investments LLC Boosts Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

AdvisorShares Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,245 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,515,891 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,952,170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,995,760 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,287,162 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,250,423,000 after buying an additional 135,117 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,152,690,000 after buying an additional 807,850 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth about $649,318,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Ross Stores by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,805,427 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $575,647,000 after acquiring an additional 154,486 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays set a $150.00 target price on Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $166.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.87.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total transaction of $657,097.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 110,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,400,425.20. The trade was a 4.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.0 %

ROST stock opened at $140.78 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $46.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The business’s 50-day moving average is $133.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.64. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. As a group, analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.63%.

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.