National Pension Service Buys 102,185 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

National Pension Service raised its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 12.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 901,534 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 102,185 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.27% of Ross Stores worth $135,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 4.0% during the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,673 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Kintegral Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 2,943 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,929 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,214 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.4 %

ROST opened at $140.66 on Tuesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.73 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.72. The firm has a market cap of $46.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.