Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,420,951 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 7,496 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $181,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 374.5% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 411,404 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $52,487,000 after buying an additional 324,693 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 12.6% during the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,984 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $763,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.7% in the second quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 30,690 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,915,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 13.5% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,869 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.8% in the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.5%

ROST opened at $160.73 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $150.91 and a 200-day moving average of $143.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.18. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $161.95.

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

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 25.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, August 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total transaction of $437,131.88. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 88,335 shares in the company, valued at $13,169,865.15. The trade was a 3.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 157,153 shares in the company, valued at $22,944,338. The trade was a 20.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,720 shares of company stock valued at $7,761,212 over the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.