First Eagle Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,464,567 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 34,191 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $263,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Somerset Trust Co lifted its position in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 14,788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co now owns 3,399 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $612,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 9,832 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,771,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ROST. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group set a $208.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Trading Down 5.0%

Shares of ROST opened at $214.55 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $217.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.63. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.49 and a twelve month high of $231.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.46, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.87.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results 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. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The company had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.93%.

About Ross Stores

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.