Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,899,271 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 12,962 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Ross Stores worth $285,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. PGGM Investments lifted its position in Ross Stores by 724.1% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 24,848 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,611,000 after acquiring an additional 21,833 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 140.2% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 464,062 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $68,106,000 after purchasing an additional 270,844 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 47.5% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,124 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 4,228 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 42.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 63,105 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $9,260,000 after purchasing an additional 18,685 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 10.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 254,720 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, 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 transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. This represents a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $146.09 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.53 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 42.42%. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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

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.