VCI Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 6,813 Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

VCI Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,813 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $943,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 919 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,133 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 240 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.6% in the third quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 5,309 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 4.5% in the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 2,048 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $278,257.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total value of $329,285.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $278,257.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 13,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.46, for a total value of $2,043,795.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,941.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 71,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,396,178. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $132.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,364,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,993,607. The firm has a market cap of $44.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $151.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $143.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.14.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.81 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.15% and a net margin of 9.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 26.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ROST shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.21.

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.