New York State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• The New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. by 1.2%, bringing its total ownership to 239,394 shares valued at approximately $30.54 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Ross Stores, with estimates now ranging from $130.00 to $162.33, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Ross Stores recently reported earnings of $1.56 EPS for the quarter, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $5.53 billion, an increase of 4.6% year-over-year.

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 239,394 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 2,903 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.07% of Ross Stores worth $30,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,458 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,359,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,932 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 50.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 217 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $162.33.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST stock opened at $156.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $50.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.75. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $158.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 25.71%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In related news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total value of $607,040.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 106,413 shares in the company, valued at $16,149,236.88. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total value of $437,131.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 88,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,169,865.15. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,720 shares of company stock worth $7,761,212. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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