Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Purchases 11,655 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 94.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,930 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 11,655 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $4,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ROST. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 39.9% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after acquiring an additional 7,951 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 615 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,272 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 16.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST stock opened at $208.79 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $200.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.33. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $124.07 and a one year high of $217.51. The stock has a market cap of $67.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at $22,331,883.20. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $200.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.