Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) is Court Place Advisors LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Court Place Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,813 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 223 shares during the quarter. Ross Stores accounts for about 2.3% of Court Place Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Court Place Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $7,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,510,301 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,488,582,000 after purchasing an additional 137,952 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.7% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,361,375 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $779,543,000 after purchasing an additional 125,519 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 21.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,036,224 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $640,624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,817 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 14.1% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,355,761 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $600,541,000 after purchasing an additional 662,825 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 84.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,742,218 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $550,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,173,922 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ ROST traded down $1.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $132.79. 2,046,504 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,964,218. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.44. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $151.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $44.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. 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%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.44%.

Ross Stores announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ROST. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Ross Stores from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.21.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other 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 value of $2,043,795.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 61,657 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,941.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other 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 value of $2,043,795.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 61,657 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,941.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total value of $329,285.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.