Aviva PLC Has $29.28 Million Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Aviva PLC boosted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1,738.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 229,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 217,018 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $29,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 17.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,360,413,000 after buying an additional 4,946,101 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 59.3% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,055,088 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $518,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,815 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,997,575 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $510,850,000 after acquiring an additional 192,148 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,912,392 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $372,134,000 after purchasing an additional 15,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,971,294 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $251,912,000 after purchasing an additional 21,473 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total transaction of $607,040.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total value of $437,131.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 88,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,169,865.15. The trade was a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,720 shares of company stock worth $7,761,212. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $161.08 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.39 billion, a PE ratio of 25.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.34. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $165.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.58.

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

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, August 18th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.73.

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.