Marco Investment Management LLC Purchases 300 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,900 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 262.1% in the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ROST shares. Barclays raised their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.69.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This represents a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of ROST stock opened at $146.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.53 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $145.14 and a 200-day moving average of $144.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results 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. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.42% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

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

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.