Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) was in 30 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. ROST has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest recently. There were 28 hedge funds in our database with ROST positions at the end of the previous quarter.
At the moment, there are dozens of gauges shareholders can use to analyze their holdings. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a superb margin (see just how much).
Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of stimuli for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a glance at the key action regarding Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST).
How have hedgies been trading Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 30 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 7% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the most valuable position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST), worth close to $141 million billion, accounting for 0.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Akre Capital Management, managed by Charles Akre, which held a $105 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedgies that hold long positions include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds have jumped into Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) headfirst. Carlson Capital, managed by Clint Carlson, created the largest position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST). Carlson Capital had 19 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management also initiated a $17 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new ROST investors: Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management, James Dondero’s Highland Capital Management, and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.
What have insiders been doing with Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time period, Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) is no exception.
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