Procyon Advisors LLC Buys 188 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,166 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 188 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intellectus Partners LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 6,049 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $773,000 after buying an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,087,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,697 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,894 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,903,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 91.7% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 1,622 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.67.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $142.16 on Tuesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.95. The firm has a market cap of $46.75 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.59%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. This trade represents a 5.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total value of $1,481,947.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.