Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Bought by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ross Stores by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,916,192 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,243,740,000 after purchasing an additional 346,474 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,440,272 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $517,795,000 after buying an additional 129,908 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Ross Stores by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,737,042 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $397,747,000 after acquiring an additional 254,720 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Ross Stores by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,477,142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $359,991,000 after acquiring an additional 331,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 68.8% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,391,856 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $347,585,000 after acquiring an additional 975,190 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST stock opened at $140.69 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $119.73 and a one year high of $163.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $146.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $144.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction 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 trade was a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.00.

About Ross Stores

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.