Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Raises Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 113.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,107 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 16,006 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $4,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Hahn Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $11,203,000 after purchasing an additional 21,500 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,152,690,000 after purchasing an additional 807,850 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $269,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $17,524,000 after buying an additional 11,060 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at $17,760,529.79. This represents a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of ROST stock opened at $139.63 on Monday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $133.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ROST. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.87.

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.