Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Has $4.61 Million Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 12.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,263 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,647 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $4,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 515.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,756,881 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $243,135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,471,585 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 68.8% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,391,856 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $347,585,000 after acquiring an additional 975,190 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $102,083,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,722,885 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $653,600,000 after acquiring an additional 601,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,814,440 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $263,675,000 after acquiring an additional 394,774 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.71.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $150.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $108.35 and a one year high of $163.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 24.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at $48,003,532.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Ross Stores

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.