Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Decreases Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC reduced its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 103,541 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,080 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $15,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 152.9% in 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 during the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 434.1% in 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 position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “negative” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays set a $150.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.40.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $128.13 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $139.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.26. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company has a market cap of $42.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 25.63%.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value 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 approximately $11,826,540.99. This trade represents a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.