First Eagle Investment Management LLC Sells 6,737 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,810,817 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 6,737 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.54% of Ross Stores worth $263,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 888 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Ross Stores by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 251 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kintegral Advisory LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 2,943 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during 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 $150.73 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $108.35 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted 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, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the 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 directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 in the last 90 days. Corporate 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.