Bank of America Corp DE Grows Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,762,583 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 180,182 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 3.00% of Ross Stores worth $1,487,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,182,660 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,998,924,000 after acquiring an additional 5,060,954 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $521,159,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Ross Stores by 1,908.8% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,816,763 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $276,857,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726,324 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Ross Stores by 30.1% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,669,876 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $468,203,000 after purchasing an additional 849,391 shares during the period. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter worth about $102,281,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 2,556 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.91, for a total transaction of $546,753.96. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 103,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,234,874.95. The trade was a 2.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $206.28 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $196.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $66.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.21, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.97. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $216.80.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The business had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 26.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded Ross Stores from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $220.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Evercore boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $200.00 price target on Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.29.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.