Everpar Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Everpar Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,399 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,838,299 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $254,402,000 after acquiring an additional 28,748 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,434 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,136,000 after purchasing an additional 2,760 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in Ross Stores by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 26,133 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,617,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 9,197 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its position in Ross Stores by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,464 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 13,860 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.46, for a total transaction of $2,043,795.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 61,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,941.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 13,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.46, for a total value of $2,043,795.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 61,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,941.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Larree M. Renda sold 4,168 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.89, for a total value of $616,405.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $468,219.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on Ross Stores from $144.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on Ross Stores from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.11.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.9 %

Ross Stores stock traded up $1.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $132.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,598,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,070,758. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.00 and a 12 month high of $151.12. The company has a market capitalization of $44.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $140.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.81 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.15% and a net margin of 9.20%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 26.44%.

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.