Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Sold by State of Tennessee Department of Treasury

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury trimmed its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,842 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 5,564 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $19,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 3,910 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,474 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 662 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup upgraded Ross Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ross Stores from $166.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.87.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $137.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $45.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.71. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. On average, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 25.63%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In related news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,868,364. This trade represents a 15.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.