Bleakley Financial Group LLC Purchases 176 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $761,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 458.0% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Rock Creek Group LP bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 10,734 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $1,567,164.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 62,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,806. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 10,734 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $1,567,164.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 62,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,806. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.21.

Ross Stores Trading Down 2.8 %

ROST opened at $135.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.79 billion, a PE ratio of 24.46, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.04. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $151.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $145.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.79.

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

Ross Stores declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 5th that permits the company to buyback $2.10 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This is a boost 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 26.44%.

Ross Stores 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.