Caxton Associates LLP Sells 3,596 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Caxton Associates LLP reduced its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 29.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,418 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 3,596 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth $111,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.0% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 406,066 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $51,882,000 after buying an additional 3,994 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at $124,000. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 176.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 26,366 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,364,000 after acquiring an additional 16,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth about $849,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $184.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.61 billion, a PE ratio of 28.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.03. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $185.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $164.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.20. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 36.75%. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Ross Stores has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.380-6.46 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.770-1.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 9th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ROST. UBS Group set a $203.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, insider Stephen C. Brinkley sold 6,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.97, for a total value of $971,793.89. Following the transaction, the insider owned 57,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,607,101.64. This represents a 10.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $5,745,246.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 157,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,944,338. This represents a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,720 shares of company stock worth $7,154,172. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.