Sanctuary Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,359 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,145 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $4,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,411,000. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,790,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 84.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 227,340 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $34,645,000 after buying an additional 104,270 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 130,610 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $19,904,000 after buying an additional 7,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Planning Hawaii Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,542,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total transaction of $3,398,371.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 116,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,331,883.20. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.2%

ROST stock opened at $227.79 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $215.51 and a 200 day moving average of $190.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.38 billion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.49 and a 52 week high of $230.44.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The company had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 26.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price 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 reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.06.

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.