ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Trims Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lowered its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 22.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,102 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 1,217 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $523,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 36,488 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,655,000 after buying an additional 2,689 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 59.9% during the second quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 1,554 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 22.5% in the second quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 24.4% in the second quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.0% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 153,149 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $19,539,000 after purchasing an additional 5,919 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued 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.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.4%

ROST stock opened at $151.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.36 and a 52-week high of $158.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $145.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 25.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total value of $607,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 106,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,149,236.88. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $5,745,246.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 157,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,944,338. This trade represents a 20.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.