Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Stock Position Lifted by Meeder Advisory Services Inc.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 39.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,781 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,196 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,862 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,780,000 after acquiring an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,726 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 36,542 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $5,057,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,523 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,067 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,469,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at $48,003,532.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,003,532.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. TD Cowen raised their target price on Ross Stores from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett upgraded Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.71.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $155.25 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $108.35 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.79 billion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $146.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.04.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 24.79%.

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.