Man Group plc Trims Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Man Group plc lowered its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 71.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 199,069 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 504,463 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $30,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 25.7% in 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 buying an additional 3,995,760 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $1,250,423,000 after purchasing an additional 135,117 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 11.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $649,318,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,805,427 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $575,647,000 after buying an additional 154,486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upgraded Ross Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $130.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $150.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $14,400,425.20. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.8%

ROST stock opened at $151.89 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $135.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.51. The stock has a market cap of $49.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.63%.

About Ross Stores

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.