Leo Wealth LLC Takes Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,728 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 39.9% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after acquiring an additional 7,951 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 23.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 615 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 16.9% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at approximately $368,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 65.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,956 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of ROST stock opened at $221.21 on Tuesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.36 and a 1-year high of $222.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $203.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $71.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.92.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $221.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup increased their price target on Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group set a $208.00 price target on Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays increased their price target on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.29.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.