Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Raises Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,902 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 487 shares during the quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 68.8% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,391,856 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $347,585,000 after acquiring an additional 975,190 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,722,885 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $653,600,000 after buying an additional 601,031 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 59.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,261,102 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $183,263,000 after buying an additional 469,717 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,814,440 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $263,675,000 after buying an additional 394,774 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,007,528 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $291,734,000 after purchasing an additional 390,518 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.71.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST stock opened at $143.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $111.64 and a one year high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.82 billion, a PE ratio of 24.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $148.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.23.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.79%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value 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 $16,038,546.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value 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 $16,038,546.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.