Marshall Wace LLP Invests $11.54 Million in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 90,439 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $11,538,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Louisbourg Investments Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 54.2% in the second quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 30,235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,857,000 after purchasing an additional 10,625 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 11,676 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after buying an additional 2,109 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at $1,265,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.5% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,001,526 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $255,355,000 after buying an additional 30,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in Ross Stores by 0.5% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,268,700 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,310,081,000 after acquiring an additional 51,765 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total transaction of $437,131.88. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 88,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,169,865.15. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen C. Brinkley sold 6,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.97, for a total value of $971,793.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 57,012 shares in the company, valued at $8,607,101.64. The trade was a 10.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 48,720 shares of company stock valued at $7,154,172 over the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $181.82 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.49. The stock has a market cap of $59.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.41, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.03. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $182.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.20. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.21% and a net margin of 9.47%.The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. 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. Research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 9th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ROST. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.19.

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.