Greenleaf Trust Acquires 399 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 7.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,531 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the second quarter worth about $229,000. Hengehold Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the second quarter worth about $741,000. Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 20.7% during the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 11,154 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,423,000 after buying an additional 1,915 shares during the last quarter. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 1.1% during the second quarter. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. now owns 10,807 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,379,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 11.0% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,792 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $156.17 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.76. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $158.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 37.37%. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ROST. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.67.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total value of $437,131.88. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 88,335 shares in the company, valued at $13,169,865.15. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $5,745,246.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 157,153 shares in the company, valued at $22,944,338. This represents a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,283 shares of company stock worth $6,789,418 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.20% 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.