Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Position Increased by Meeder Advisory Services Inc.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,262 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.8% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 3,910 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 662 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 31,460 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $132.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $163.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.32. 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 posted its 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 net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays set a $150.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.40.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,101 shares of company stock worth $2,300,905. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.