State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,447 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 3,995 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $19,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 7,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at $29,000. City Holding Co. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 1,080.0% in the fourth quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 162.6% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 239 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at $24,935,577.48. The trade was a 11.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at $460,147.67. This trade represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group set a $208.00 price target on Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $221.00 price target on Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.06.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST stock opened at $227.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.38 billion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.92. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.49 and a 52-week high of $230.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $215.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.445 dividend. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 26.93%.

About Ross Stores

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.