TD Asset Management Inc. Buys 198,308 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

TD Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 30.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 850,876 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 198,308 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.26% of Ross Stores worth $128,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Hahn Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $11,203,000 after buying an additional 21,500 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $269,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $17,524,000 after purchasing an additional 11,060 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 137.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $299,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,774 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value 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 trade represents a 5.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays set a $150.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.40.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $128.13 on Wednesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $139.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.26. The company has a market cap of $42.27 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.63%.

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.