Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 22,140 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Boston Trust Walden Corp reduced its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 3.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 649,239 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 22,140 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $82,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,458 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,359,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 3.8% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,932 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 50.7% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 217 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 6.1% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 36.6% in the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ROST shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Ross Stores from $146.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.33.

Ross Stores Trading Up 4.8%

Ross Stores stock opened at $154.77 on Tuesday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.17. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $158.69. The company has a market capitalization of $50.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stephen C. Brinkley sold 6,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.97, for a total transaction of $971,793.89. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 57,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,607,101.64. This represents a 10.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 157,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,944,338. The trade was a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,720 shares of company stock valued at $7,761,212. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Company 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.