Wedbush Securities Inc. Purchases 2,030 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 43.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,747 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,030 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth about $649,318,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 8,209.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 2,381,201 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $360,204,000 after buying an additional 2,352,543 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,204,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $173,329,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Ross Stores by 137.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $299,583,000 after buying an additional 1,144,774 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ROST. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays set a $150.00 price target on Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.00.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $130.31 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.36 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The company has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $135.91 and a 200-day moving average of $143.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,868,364. This represents a 15.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 over the last three months. Company 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.