Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Acquires 8,040 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 23.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 42,676 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 8,040 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $5,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 29.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,308 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 10,636 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,647 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 1st quarter worth approximately $328,000. Finally, Cypress Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Advisory Group LLC now owns 27,138 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,468,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total transaction of $437,131.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 88,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,169,865.15. This trade represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total transaction of $607,040.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 106,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,149,236.88. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,720 shares of company stock worth $7,761,212 over the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST stock opened at $154.77 on Tuesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $158.69. The company’s 50-day moving average is $148.83 and its 200 day moving average is $141.17. The company has a market capitalization of $50.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.18. 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 (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 37.37%. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.71%.

Ross Stores Company 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.