Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $6.98 Million Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 46,352 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 14,366 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $6,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter worth $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 97.8% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Five equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.69.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In related news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $146.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $145.14 and a 200-day moving average of $144.62. The company has a market cap of $48.47 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $127.53 and a one year high of $163.60.

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

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

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