Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 61.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,567 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,495 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 97.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,003,532.29. This trade represents a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ROST. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.00.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST opened at $141.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.79, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average of $145.99 and a 200 day moving average of $144.42. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.53 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. 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 (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. 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.