S.A. Mason LLC Has $277,000 Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

S.A. Mason LLC lowered its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Trust Co of the South bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth $308,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Ross Stores by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 275,721 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $38,157,000 after buying an additional 29,053 shares in the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 89,439 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $12,377,000 after buying an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,333 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,412,000 after acquiring an additional 10,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total value of $3,056,067.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,488 shares in the company, valued at $16,616,788.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ ROST opened at $147.19 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $49.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.47, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $144.58 and a 200-day moving average of $131.65. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $151.12.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.81 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.15% and a net margin of 9.20%. The company’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ROST. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $143.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.21.

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 primarily to middle income households; and dd's DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.