Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 179,632 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 18,801 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.05% of Ross Stores worth $27,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 64.2% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,039 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 1,188 shares during the period. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at $60,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 8.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 666,450 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $100,307,000 after buying an additional 54,037 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,998 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $5,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 2.1% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,875 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,787,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 103,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ:ROST traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $139.32. The stock had a trading volume of 3,005,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,276,562. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $127.53 and a one year high of $163.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $145.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.48.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. Ross Stores's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ROST. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $169.50.

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.