Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Trims Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 21.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 155,305 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 41,360 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $23,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 152.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 434.1% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $129.09 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $138.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.03. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $42.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 25.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. This represents a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays set a $150.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.40.

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.