Marshall Wace North America L.P. Increases Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST)

Marshall Wace North America L.P. boosted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 21.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,463,322 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 262,946 shares during the period. Ross Stores accounts for approximately 0.6% of Marshall Wace North America L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Marshall Wace North America L.P. owned approximately 0.38% of Ross Stores worth $84,873,000 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. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America increased its position in Ross Stores by 0.7% in the first quarter. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America now owns 1,529 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. TrimTabs Asset Management LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 89.2% in the first quarter. TrimTabs Asset Management LLC now owns 1,646 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 776 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Ross Stores by 3.4% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,868 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 39.1% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the first quarter worth about $112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.20% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST) traded up 10.67% during trading on Friday, reaching $59.02. The company had a trading volume of 14,140,321 shares. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $55.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.10. The stock has a market cap of $22.61 billion, a PE ratio of 19.49 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.85 and a 52-week high of $69.81.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The apparel retailer reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 43.40% and a net margin of 8.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post $3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 21.12%.

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A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. MKM Partners lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets set a $65.00 target price on Ross Stores and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $67.00 target price on Ross Stores and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 19th. Finally, Jefferies Group LLC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.78.

In related news, Director Sharon D. Garrett sold 16,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total transaction of $1,019,899.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,967 shares in the company, valued at $314,063.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc and its subsidiaries operate two brands of off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores-Ross Dress for Less (Ross) and dd’s DISCOUNTS. The Company is the off-price apparel and home fashion chain in the United States, with 1,340 locations in 36 states, the District of Columbia and Guam, as of January 28, 2017.

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