National Pension Service Has $135.69 Million Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 901,534 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 102,185 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $135,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. PGGM Investments increased its stake in Ross Stores by 724.1% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 24,848 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,611,000 after purchasing an additional 21,833 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Ross Stores by 140.2% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 464,062 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $68,106,000 after purchasing an additional 270,844 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 47.5% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,124 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,907,000 after acquiring an additional 4,228 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 8.1% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 547,710 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $80,382,000 after acquiring an additional 41,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 19.3% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 30,919 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,538,000 after acquiring an additional 4,992 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ROST. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.88.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.4 %

ROST stock opened at $140.66 on Tuesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.73 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $46.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.72.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores 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.