KBC Group NV Acquires 2,708 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 141,795 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,708 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $21,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,916,192 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,243,740,000 after purchasing an additional 346,474 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 3.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,440,272 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $517,795,000 after buying an additional 129,908 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 10.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,737,042 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $397,747,000 after buying an additional 254,720 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,477,142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $359,991,000 after acquiring an additional 331,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 68.8% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,391,856 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $347,585,000 after acquiring an additional 975,190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This trade represents a 13.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 in the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Gordon Haskett raised Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.00.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $140.69 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $46.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.73 and a twelve month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the business earned $1.32 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.71%.

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.