International Assets Investment Management LLC Sells 2,537 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

International Assets Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 31.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,538 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,537 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Somerset Trust Co boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 14,788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co now owns 3,399 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 42.6% in the 4th 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. Composition Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 9,832 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,771,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research downgraded Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.06.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. The trade was a 11.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of ROST stock opened at $225.81 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $217.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.49 and a 1 year high of $231.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.16, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

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.