Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Has $10.67 Million Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lowered its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,543 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 2,073 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $10,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 8,209.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 2,381,201 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $360,204,000 after buying an additional 2,352,543 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at about $230,204,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 64.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $581,373,000 after buying an additional 1,507,922 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $173,329,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 137.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $299,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,774 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at $11,826,540.99. This trade represents a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ROST traded down $1.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $128.16. 638,733 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,433,196. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.42. The company has a market capitalization of $42.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This is a boost from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 25.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ROST. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays set a $150.00 target price on Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $161.40.

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.