Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Takes $53,000 Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 352 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.0% during the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 2.4% in the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,673 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Kintegral Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 3.0% in the second quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 2,943 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.5% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,929 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $862,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,214 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’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 owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $140.46 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.73 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.71%.

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.