Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 4,787.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 629,744 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 616,860 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.19% of Ross Stores worth $94,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 42.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 63,105 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $9,260,000 after acquiring an additional 18,685 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 6.9% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,041 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 135.2% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 24,233 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $3,557,000 after purchasing an additional 13,931 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 37,844.4% during the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 6,830 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 6,812 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the 1st quarter worth about $16,130,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. This represents a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ROST. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Ross Stores to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST stock traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $154.89. The stock had a trading volume of 2,330,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,337,415. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $51.39 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.09. The stock's 50 day moving average is $145.30 and its 200 day moving average is $145.05. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. Ross Stores's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

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.