Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Raises Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 787,100 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $118,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 154.5% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 308 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 69.8% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,514 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 216.2% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 72,808 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $10,684,000 after buying an additional 49,784 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP grew its stake in Ross Stores by 67.7% in the 1st quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 8,537 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,253,000 after buying an additional 3,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayberry Capital Partners LP grew its stake in Ross Stores by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. Bayberry Capital Partners LP now owns 121,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $17,758,000 after buying an additional 21,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.2 %

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

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The business 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date 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 23.15%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This represents a 13.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores 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.