Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 62,361 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,499 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $9,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.9% during the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 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 grew its stake in Ross Stores by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,735 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,673 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kintegral Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 2,943 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $153.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $145.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.83. The company has a market cap of $50.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.53 and a 12-month high of $163.60. 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 earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,694,665.26. This represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.