Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,216 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 7,268 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $17,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in Ross Stores by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,474 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc boosted its position in Ross Stores by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 662 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,983 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,715 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Ross Stores from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $158.67.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST stock traded down $0.77 during trading on Thursday, hitting $138.93. 3,913,485 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,709,368. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $139.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.90. 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 company has a market cap of $45.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. Ross Stores's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total value of $1,481,947.60. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total value of $657,097.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 110,365 shares in the company, valued at $14,400,425.20. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 over the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.