Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Bought by Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,200 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 152.9% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $131.15 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.26. The company has a market cap of $42.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 25.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ROST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.53.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total transaction of $657,097.28. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 110,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,400,425.20. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,868,364. This trade represents a 15.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,059 shares of company stock valued at $3,768,677. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.