Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Holdings Trimmed by Interval Partners LP

Interval Partners LP reduced its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 738,740 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 138,222 shares during the quarter. Ross Stores accounts for 1.8% of Interval Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Interval Partners LP’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $112,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.3% during the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 20,114 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,065,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 3.1% during the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,303 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 12,032 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,535,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 5,421 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $826,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This trade represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 2,556 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.91, for a total transaction of $546,753.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 103,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,234,874.95. The trade was a 2.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.29.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.7%

ROST opened at $206.28 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $216.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $196.31 and a 200-day moving average of $174.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $66.72 billion, a PE ratio of 31.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.97.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The business had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.445 dividend. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 24.51%.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.