Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Has $39.19 Million Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH cut its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 307,148 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 31,933 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $39,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 22.0% in the second quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 11,676 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after buying an additional 2,109 shares during the period. Louisbourg Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 54.2% in the 2nd quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 30,235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,857,000 after acquiring an additional 10,625 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 59.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,591 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,843 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 19,734 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Credit Agricole S A boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 98.4% during the 1st quarter. Credit Agricole S A now owns 104,200 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $13,316,000 after purchasing an additional 51,692 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $159.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $51.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.58. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $165.07. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $154.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.27.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.59 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 25.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, October 31st. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $146.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.53.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, insider Stephen C. Brinkley sold 6,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.97, for a total value of $971,793.89. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 57,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,607,101.64. This represents a 10.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total transaction of $607,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 106,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,149,236.88. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,720 shares of company stock worth $7,761,212. 2.20% of the stock is owned by 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.