New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 15.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 198,501 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 35,070 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Ross Stores worth $25,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth approximately $649,318,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,515,891 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,952,170,000 after buying an additional 3,995,760 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,336,312 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $504,684,000 after buying an additional 1,368,571 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 411.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,458,963 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $220,697,000 after buying an additional 1,173,607 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $176,973,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ROST. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on Ross Stores from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $158.94.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $129.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,714,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,823,638. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.53, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $136.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.57. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.77% and a net margin of 9.79%. Ross Stores's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 25.59%.

Ross Stores Company 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.