Originally published on Best Stocks Category: best stocks to buy now The stock currently has a “Moderate Buy” rating from the twenty-two brokerages that cover Ross Stores, Inc., according to Bloomberg.com (NASDAQ: ROST). Six research analysts think the stock should be held, while nine think it should be bought. Brokers who rated the stock the year before predicted that it would be worth $102.22 in a year.Several equity research analysts have provided their thoughts on ROST stock. In a research note issued on Friday, September 16th, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ross Stores from $98.00 to $112.00 in a research note. In a research note issued on Tuesday, July 19th, Evercore ISI set a $70.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a research note. In a research note issued on Friday, August 19th, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $85.00 to $92.00 in a research note and assigned the company a “neutral” rating. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $90.00 to $105.00 in a research note issued on Friday, August 19th, and assigned the company an “outperform” rating. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, August 2nd. They assigned the stock a “buy” rating and a price target of $102.00.On Monday, ROST shares opened at $83.73. The 50-day moving average for the stock is $87.79, and the 200-day moving average is $86.55. The quick ratio stands at 1.17, the current ratio stands at 1.92, and the debt-to-equity ratio stands at 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $29.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97, and a beta of 0.94. Ross Stores’ 52-week low is $69.24, and its 52-week high is $123.36.Ross Stores (NASDAQ: ROST) released its most recent quarterly earnings report on Thursday, August 18th. The apparel retailer reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, $0.13 higher than the $0.98 expected by analysts. The company’s revenue for the quarter was $4.58 billion, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.62 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.36% and a net margin of 7.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to last year’s last quarter. The company earned $1.39 per share during the previous year. According to research analysts, Ross Stores is expected to earn $3.99 per share in the current fiscal year.Furthermore, the company declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, September 30th. Dividends of $0.31 per share were paid on September 6th to shareholders of record on that date. This equates to a $1.24 annual dividend and a 1.48% yield. On September 2nd, the dividend was paid. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.45%.Several large investors recently bought and sold stock in the company. Price T. Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Ross Stores by 2.0% in the second quarter. Following the purchase of an additional 994,578 shares during the last quarter, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,657,768 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at $3,487,464,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Ross Stores by 3.8% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 28,971,315 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at $2,620,746,000, after purchasing an additional 1,063,712 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings of Ross Stores by 0.5% during the first quarter. After purchasing 137,952 shares in the last quarter, Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,510,301 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at $2,488,582,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 13.4% during the second quarter. After purchasing an additional 1,619,174 shares in the last quarter, FMR LLC now owns 13,702,262 of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at $962,311,000. Finally, Primecap Management Co., CA increased its stake in Ross Stores by 0.5% in the first quarter. After purchasing 57,260 shares in the previous quarter, Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 11,344,159 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at $1,026,193,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.65% of the company’s stock.Under the brand names, Ross Dress for Less and DD’s DISCOUNTS, Ross Stores, Inc. and its subsidiaries operate off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores. Its main products are clothing, accessories, footwear, and home furnishings. In department and specialty stores, DD’s DISCOUNTS stores primarily serve middle-income households, whereas Ross Dress for fewer stores primarily serves middle-income households in department and discount stores.