Raymond James Trust N.A. Decreases Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Raymond James Trust N.A. reduced its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,245 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 706 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in Ross Stores by 262.1% during the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 97.8% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of Ross Stores 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,003,532.29. The trade was a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $146.09 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $145.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.70. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.53 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 42.42%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ROST. Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.69.

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.