Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Holdings Increased by PYA Waltman Capital LLC

PYA Waltman Capital LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 128,540 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,861 shares during the period. Ross Stores makes up approximately 6.3% of PYA Waltman Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. PYA Waltman Capital LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $19,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 19.1% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 473 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 4.0% in the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,735 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,673 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ROST. Citigroup downgraded 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. StockNews.com cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.69.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was 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 owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST stock opened at $156.48 on Monday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.53 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $145.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.25. The company has a market capitalization of $51.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.