2,449 Shares in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Purchased by Crew Capital Management Ltd.

Crew Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,449 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ROST. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.0% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 6,286 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $710,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in Ross Stores by 15.1% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 10,522 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after buying an additional 1,379 shares in the last quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 164.1% during the third quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 338 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $402,000. Finally, Hendershot Investments Inc. raised its stake in Ross Stores by 0.3% during the third quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 60,898 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,878,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on ROST shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Ross Stores from $143.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.21.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST traded down $2.55 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $131.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,541,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,012,055. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $151.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.13 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.81 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.15% and a net margin of 9.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

Ross Stores announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total value of $3,056,067.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total value of $3,056,067.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total value of $329,285.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at $278,257.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178 in the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.