Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Increases Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,149 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 5,919 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $19,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ross Stores by 17.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $4,360,413,000 after acquiring an additional 4,946,101 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 59.3% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,055,088 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $518,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,815 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 1st quarter worth approximately $122,043,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 16,435.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 806,099 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $103,011,000 after purchasing an additional 801,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 184.4% in the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,080,532 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $138,081,000 after buying an additional 700,546 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST stock opened at $149.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $145.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.81. The company has a market cap of $48.61 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.15. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.02. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 37.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. Ross Stores's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 25.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, August 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.67.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total transaction of $607,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 106,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,149,236.88. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.20% 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.

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