Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Sold by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp reduced its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,654 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 8,565 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $8,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 271.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 42,194 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $6,192,000 after buying an additional 30,822 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,074 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,038,000 after buying an additional 2,050 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $278,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 35.7% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,721 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 26.4% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,192 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ ROST opened at $154.87 on Monday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.53 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $145.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.15%.

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.