Farther Finance Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,184 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 313 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $282,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 152.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth $51,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $159.53.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $129.05 on Wednesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $141.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.17. The company has a market cap of $42.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.55.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 38.77%. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 139,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.70, for a total transaction of $672,979.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 93,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,892,190.20. The trade was a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,059 shares of company stock valued at $3,768,677 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.