New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 14,737 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 252,672 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 14,737 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of Ross Stores worth $38,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $17,524,000 after acquiring an additional 11,060 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 137.7% during 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. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 71,933 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $10,881,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 44,822 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $6,780,000 after acquiring an additional 4,334 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 917.2% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,440,000 after acquiring an additional 26,598 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $138.76 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.53 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $45.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, January 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.06.

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.