Plato Investment Management Ltd Has $1.11 Million Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 11.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,613 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. American International Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 124,424 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $17,219,000 after buying an additional 2,969 shares during the period. PGGM Investments raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 724.1% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 24,848 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,611,000 after acquiring an additional 21,833 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 232.6% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 32,182 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,454,000 after purchasing an additional 22,506 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1,194.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 411,164 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $56,899,000 after purchasing an additional 379,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the first quarter worth $1,483,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Gordon Haskett upgraded Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.71.

Ross Stores Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $155.25 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $108.35 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The company has a market cap of $51.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $146.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.94.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its 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. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.79%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In related news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at $48,003,532.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.10% 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.