Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Has $51.91 Million Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lessened its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 5.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 344,907 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 19,050 shares during the quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $51,911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 262.1% in 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 last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday. Finally, 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROST traded up $0.10 on Tuesday, hitting $153.39. 143,281 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,325,608. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $145.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.83. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.53 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.14, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.