Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Has $350,000 Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 262.1% during the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $142.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $145.32 and its 200 day moving average is $144.43. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.53 and a 1 year high of $163.60.

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

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,003,532.29. This trade represents a 13.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now 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 a total of 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 in the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ROST. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. 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 research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.50.

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.