Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Purchased by Avestar Capital LLC

Avestar Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 7.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,663 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter worth $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 262.1% during the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter worth $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 97.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. The trade was a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $154.89 on Thursday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60. 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 50-day moving average of $145.30 and a 200-day moving average of $145.05. The firm has a market cap of $51.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.15%.

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.