Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Grows Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 50.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,413 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. CWM LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 13.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,722 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 816 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 39.4% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,484,000 after buying an additional 3,717 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 14.1% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 783 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 24.1% during the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,119 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 3.0% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 6,286 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $144.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $3,056,067.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $3,056,067.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total value of $329,285.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST traded down $0.74 on Wednesday, reaching $132.35. The company had a trading volume of 655,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,966,147. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.00 and a twelve month high of $151.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $143.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.83, a P/E/G 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 (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.81 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.15% and a net margin of 9.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.44%.

Ross Stores announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.