First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Purchases 1,285 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,757 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 262.1% in the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 97.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 over the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.71.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $139.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $148.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.47. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.06 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The firm has a market cap of $46.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued 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%. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.71%.

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.