Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Purchased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,440,272 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 129,908 shares during the quarter. Ross Stores comprises approximately 0.5% of Victory Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $517,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. PGGM Investments lifted its position in Ross Stores by 724.1% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 24,848 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,611,000 after purchasing an additional 21,833 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 140.2% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 464,062 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $68,106,000 after purchasing an additional 270,844 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 47.5% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,124 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after acquiring an additional 4,228 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 547,710 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $80,382,000 after purchasing an additional 41,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 30,919 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,538,000 after purchasing an additional 4,992 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ROST shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.63.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST stock traded down $1.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $140.80. 1,140,666 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,250,338. The business has a 50-day moving average of $147.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $144.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.73 and a 52 week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. Insiders own 2.10% 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.