Avestar Capital LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Avestar Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 7.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,663 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 4.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,025,309,000 after buying an additional 316,652 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 3.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,440,272 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $517,795,000 after buying an additional 129,908 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 10.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,737,042 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $397,747,000 after buying an additional 254,720 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 15.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,477,142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $359,991,000 after buying an additional 331,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 68.8% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,391,856 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $347,585,000 after acquiring an additional 975,190 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ROST shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.69.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST opened at $154.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.53 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The company has a 50 day moving average of $145.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.05. The company has a market cap of $51.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 23.15%.

Insider Activity

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

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.