Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Reduces Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 15.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,284 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 6,589 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $4,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Hengehold Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at approximately $741,000. Sage Rhino Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 20.7% in the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 11,154 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,423,000 after buying an additional 1,915 shares during the last quarter. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.1% in the second quarter. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. now owns 10,807 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,379,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 11.0% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,792 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total transaction of $607,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 106,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,149,236.88. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $5,745,246.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 157,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,944,338. The trade was a 20.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 46,283 shares of company stock valued at $6,789,418. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $150.34 on Wednesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $158.69. The company has a market cap of $48.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $147.82 and a 200-day moving average of $140.43.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.02. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 37.37%. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 25.71%.

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.