XTX Topco Ltd Increases Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

XTX Topco Ltd grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 908.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,334 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,417 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 36,542 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $5,057,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 10,111 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $798,000. Balentine LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 913,758 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $126,455,000 after buying an additional 102,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.71.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $150.73 on Thursday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $108.35 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.03. 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 (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.32 EPS. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of Ross Stores 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.