New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Invests $5.65 Million in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 37,330 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $5,647,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 152.9% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 434.1% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth $57,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.40.

Ross Stores Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $125.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $41.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $137.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.85. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.36 and a 52-week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 25.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.