Wealth Alliance Sells 127 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Wealth Alliance lowered its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,094 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 127 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $290,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ROST. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 51.0% in the fourth quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 3,469 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 1,172 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,012,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at about $6,560,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 5,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,704 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.21.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $131.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.00 and a twelve month high of $151.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $144.19 and its 200-day moving average is $134.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 26.44%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 10,734 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $1,567,164.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 62,711 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,806. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 10,734 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $1,567,164.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 62,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,806. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.