Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. reduced its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 10.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,323 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 273 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was 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 owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on ROST shares. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital raised their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Citigroup cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.50.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST stock opened at $142.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $47.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average is $145.32 and its 200 day moving average is $144.43. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 23.71%.

Ross Stores Company 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.