Wealth Alliance Reduces Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Wealth Alliance lowered its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 11.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,839 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 228 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter worth about $474,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $747,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $415,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 9,162 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 21.9% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 728,828 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $105,913,000 after acquiring an additional 130,828 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROST. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.71.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $154.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.35 and a 12 month high of $163.60.

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

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value 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 is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at $48,003,532.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. 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.