Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Purchased by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 242 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 4.0% during the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in Ross Stores by 5.2% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,735 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 2.4% during the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,673 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Kintegral Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 2,943 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,929 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $862,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This represents a 13.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST opened at $140.69 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.73 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The firm has a market cap of $46.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.11.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 23.71%.

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.