TradeLink Capital LLC Buys New Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

TradeLink Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 2,400 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $349,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1,010.7% in the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,388 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 2,173 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,244 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,862 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,780,000 after buying an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.71.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $152.68 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $108.35 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.99. The firm has a market cap of $50.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 24.79%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.