Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Lowers Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 73,908 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 248 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $10,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $523,185,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 515.8% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,756,881 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $243,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471,585 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1,437.1% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,026,367 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $142,039,000 after purchasing an additional 959,594 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth $102,083,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,722,885 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $653,600,000 after purchasing an additional 601,031 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $130,206.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,634.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $148.87. 1,825,267 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,265,971. The business has a 50-day moving average of $142.44 and a 200-day moving average of $141.35. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.35 and a 1 year high of $153.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.08.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The apparel retailer reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.83 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 42.24%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th were issued a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 11th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.79%.

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.