Copeland Capital Management LLC Has $15.51 Million Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Copeland Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 86,120 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 3,638 shares during the quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $15,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 7,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. City Holding Co. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 1,080.0% in the fourth quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at $22,331,883.20. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ ROST opened at $226.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $73.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.92. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $212.73 and its 200-day moving average is $188.11. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $124.49 and a one year high of $230.44.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.29.

Ross Stores Company 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.