Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Has $25.02 Million Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 172,149 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 66,159 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $25,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 515.8% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,756,881 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $243,135,000 after buying an additional 1,471,585 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 975,190 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in 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 worth $653,600,000 after buying an additional 601,031 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,814,440 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $263,675,000 after buying an additional 394,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,569,718 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,953,763,000 after buying an additional 381,790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,694,665.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.71.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $154.31 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $51.47 billion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $108.35 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $147.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.06.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.32 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

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.