Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Stake Lifted by PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators boosted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 9.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 117,128 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,734 shares during the period. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators’ holdings in Ross Stores were worth $27,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 19,307 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,506,000 after buying an additional 2,068 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 3.9% during the third quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 1,512 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 37.8% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 11,640 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,717,000 after buying an additional 3,191 shares in the last quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.4% during the third quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 7,038 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,643,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 26.3% in the third quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,029 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $474,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ROST. Deutsche Bank restated a “buy” rating and issued a $294.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $265.00 to $258.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.72.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, insider Stephen C. Brinkley sold 6,424 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.66, for a total value of $1,475,335.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,865,383.90. The trade was a 11.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Conroy sold 49,205 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.48, for a total transaction of $11,291,563.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,830,408.52. This represents a 26.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $237.24 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $231.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.12. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $157.73 and a 52-week high of $257.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The apparel retailer reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 39.29% and a net margin of 10.85%. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.4450 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.55%.

About Ross Stores

Ross Stores, Inc. is an off-price retailer operating Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS. Its stores offer name-brand and designer merchandise at discounted prices, with product selection and availability varying by location and season. Ross Dress for Less sells apparel, footwear, accessories, home fashions, furnishings, and other merchandise for the whole family. dd’s DISCOUNTS offers a similar off-price assortment, including clothing, shoes, home goods, and related products. The company traces its origins to a department store founded in San Bruno, California, in 1950.