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

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. trimmed its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 344,907 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 19,050 shares during the quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. owned approximately 0.10% of Ross Stores worth $51,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 154.5% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 308 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 42.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 63,105 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $9,260,000 after purchasing an additional 18,685 shares during the period. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 1st quarter valued at about $426,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 6.9% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,041 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 135.2% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 24,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,557,000 after buying an additional 13,931 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $153.39. 143,281 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,325,608. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The company has a market cap of $50.89 billion, a PE ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.09. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.83.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.13 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ROST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen lowered their price target 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. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores 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.