Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Purchased by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 113.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,338 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HTLF Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,094,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 302,277 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $41,832,000 after purchasing an additional 16,167 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at $503,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Ross Stores by 160.7% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 164,876 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $22,817,000 after purchasing an additional 101,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Ross Stores by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 159,116 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $22,020,000 after buying an additional 26,868 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ROST shares. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $144.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,616,788.32. The sale was disclosed in a 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total value of $3,056,067.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,488 shares in the company, valued at $16,616,788.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 13,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.46, for a total value of $2,043,795.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,941.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.5 %

Ross Stores stock opened at $130.84 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $99.00 and a one year high of $151.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.06.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during 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 revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

Ross Stores declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.