Triangle Securities Wealth Management Lowers Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Triangle Securities Wealth Management reduced its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST – Get Rating) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,775 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Core Alternative Capital lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 59.7% in the third quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 321 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 1.5% in the third quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 8,171 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $689,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 1.4% in the third quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 9,656 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $814,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 3.5% in the third quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,789 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,449 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $5,010,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 89.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST traded down $1.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $102.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,866,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,324,853. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.24 and a fifty-two week high of $122.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $113.96 and its 200-day moving average is $104.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $35.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The apparel retailer reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.08. Ross Stores had a net margin of 8.09% and a return on equity of 36.40%. The company had revenue of $5.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 14th will be issued a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 13th. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 30.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 20,529 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.37, for a total value of $2,306,843.73. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 127,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,345,041.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $119.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $127.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $121.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.59.

Ross Stores Profile

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Ross Stores, Inc engages in the operation of off-price retail apparel and home accessories stores. Its products include branded and designer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions through the Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS brands. The company was founded by Stuart G. Moldaw in 1957 and is headquartered in Dublin, CA.