My Personal CFO LLC Buys Shares of 857 Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

My Personal CFO LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 857 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $99,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 2.0% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,657,768 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,487,464,000 after buying an additional 994,578 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,845,099 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,346,507,000 after acquiring an additional 227,166 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,702,262 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $962,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619,174 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,604,949 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $275,338,000 after acquiring an additional 416,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 2.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,071,302 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $258,818,000 after purchasing an additional 62,866 shares during the period. 89.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 20,529 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.37, for a total value of $2,306,843.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 127,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,345,041.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $121.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $119.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ross Stores from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $127.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.59.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.1 %

Ross Stores stock traded down $1.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $102.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,866,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,463,598. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.90. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.24 and a 12 month high of $122.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.70. The company has a market capitalization of $35.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The apparel retailer reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 8.09% and a return on equity of 36.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 4.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.335 per share. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 13th. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 30.52%.

About Ross Stores

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Ross Stores, Inc engages in the operation of off-price retail apparel and home accessories stores. Its products include branded and designer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions through the Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS brands. The company was founded by Stuart G. Moldaw in 1957 and is headquartered in Dublin, CA.