Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,399 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,382 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 1,399 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ROST. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 8,209.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 2,381,201 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $360,204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,352,543 shares during the period. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth about $230,204,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 worth $581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,922 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth about $173,329,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 137.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $299,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,774 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays set a $150.00 price target on Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $124.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $140.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.86. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.77 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The company has a market cap of $41.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.63%.

Ross Stores Company 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.