Captrust Financial Advisors Buys 89 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,460 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Ross Stores were worth $4,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PGGM Investments boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 724.1% in the second 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. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in Ross Stores by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,124 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 4,228 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 917.2% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,440,000 after purchasing an additional 26,598 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 10.3% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 7.8% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 144,310 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $21,720,000 after buying an additional 10,384 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. The trade was a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays raised their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $153.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $51.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.21, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.53 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.74. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.15%.

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.