NTV Asset Management LLC Has $339,000 Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

NTV Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,450 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 666 shares during the period. NTV Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 458.0% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 240 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Rock Creek Group LP acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth approximately $61,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ROST. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total value of $329,285.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 13,860 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.46, for a total transaction of $2,043,795.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,941.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total value of $329,285.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,396,178 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST traded up $3.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $130.84. The stock had a trading volume of 3,732,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,338,168. The stock has a market cap of $44.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.77. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.00 and a 12-month high of $151.12.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.81 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.15% and a net margin of 9.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 26.44%.

Ross Stores declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, March 5th that permits the company to buyback $2.10 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.