Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Has $94,000 Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 41.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 677 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $94,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 52.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 458.0% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 10,734 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $1,567,164.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 62,711 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,806. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 10,734 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $1,567,164.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 62,711 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,806. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total value of $329,285.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at $278,257.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $131.80 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.00 and a 52-week high of $151.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.77.

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

Ross Stores declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 5th that allows the company to buyback $2.10 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Guggenheim lifted 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $143.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.21.

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.