Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Sold by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,912 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 693 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $14,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 10,206 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth $18,930,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 474 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Crew Capital Management Ltd. increased its position in Ross Stores by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 10,039 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,519,000 after buying an additional 697 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,582,472 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $541,921,000 after buying an additional 142,200 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $138.64 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.64.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.12.

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.