Marco Investment Management LLC Has $737,000 Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Marco Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,900 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ROST. Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 4.0% in the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,735 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,673 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kintegral Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 2,943 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This trade represents a 13.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $146.09 on Friday. 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 $48.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 42.42%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 23.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective 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. Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday. Five equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.69.

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.