Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) is Steadfast Capital Management LP’s 2nd Largest Position

Steadfast Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 30.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,633,862 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 380,805 shares during the period. Ross Stores makes up 5.0% of Steadfast Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Steadfast Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.50% of Ross Stores worth $247,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Shellback Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Shellback Capital LP now owns 100,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $15,127,000 after purchasing an additional 35,000 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 21,755 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,291,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,336,312 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $504,684,000 after buying an additional 1,368,571 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 119,705 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $18,108,000 after buying an additional 13,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $541,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup raised shares of Ross Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.53.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total value of $1,481,947.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,868,364. This represents a 15.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $152.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $50.28 billion, a PE ratio of 24.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $135.64 and a 200 day moving average of $142.61. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for 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, sell-side analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.