Sarasin & Partners LLP Buys 2,510 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 463,590 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,510 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $59,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in Ross Stores by 372.5% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 241 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $160.00 price target (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total value of $607,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 106,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,149,236.88. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $146.45 on Wednesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $158.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $47.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.15.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.71%.

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.