Legal & General Group Plc Sells 548,963 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,121,407 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 548,963 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $320,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,805,427 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $575,647,000 after purchasing an additional 154,486 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,152,690,000 after acquiring an additional 807,850 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 236,262 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $35,739,000 after buying an additional 25,970 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 311.5% in the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 59,446 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $8,992,000 after acquiring an additional 45,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Payden & Rygel boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 119,800 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $18,122,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $126.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $134.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.49. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 25.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total value of $1,481,947.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,868,364. This represents a 15.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,826,540.99. This trade represents a 5.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Company 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.