State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 8,955 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue cut its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,828 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 8,955 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $5,722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 434.1% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter worth about $53,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $60,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.06.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.7 %

ROST stock opened at $142.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.10. 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 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $151.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.95.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

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.