Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,447 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 3,995 shares during the quarter. 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 reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Somerset Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 14,788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co grew its position in Ross Stores by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co now owns 3,399 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $612,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $781,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Zacks Research lowered Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.06.

Ross Stores Trading Up 1.2%

ROST opened at $227.79 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.49 and a 52 week high of $230.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.74. The firm has a market cap of $73.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.92. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The business had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.93%.

Ross Stores Company Profile

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.