13,726 Shares in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Purchased by AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,726 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,923,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,360,413,000 after buying an additional 4,946,101 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 59.3% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,055,088 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $518,200,000 after buying an additional 1,509,815 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,336,312 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $504,684,000 after buying an additional 1,368,571 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 1st quarter worth about $122,043,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 16,435.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 806,099 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $103,011,000 after purchasing an additional 801,224 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of ROST opened at $147.90 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $142.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.21. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.36 and a twelve month high of $158.69. The stock has a market cap of $48.10 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.02. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on ROST shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, August 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $16,149,236.88. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores 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.