Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $321,000 Investment in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 515.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,756,881 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $243,135,000 after buying an additional 1,471,585 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 68.8% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,391,856 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $347,585,000 after buying an additional 975,190 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,722,885 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $653,600,000 after buying an additional 601,031 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 59.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,261,102 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $183,263,000 after buying an additional 469,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 27.8% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,814,440 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $263,675,000 after buying an additional 394,774 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.71.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $150.51 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.02 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The company has a market cap of $50.21 billion, a PE ratio of 25.38, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $147.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.32 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores 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 transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Company 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.