Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 583 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,795 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 583 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 262.1% in the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 97.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ROST stock opened at $154.89 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.05. The stock has a market cap of $51.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.15 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 $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 23.15%.

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.