Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Sold by Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC

Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,500 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 325 shares during the quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 919 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,133 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $710,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 240 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.6% in the third quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 5,309 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 4.5% in the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 2,048 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ROST. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.21.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST traded up $1.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $133.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,958,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,939,351. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.42. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.00 and a 12-month high of $151.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $44.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.81 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 41.15%. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 26.44%.

Ross Stores declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 5th that permits the company to buyback $2.10 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $3,056,067.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total value of $329,285.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

About Ross Stores

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.