Oak Ridge Investments LLC Buys 7,120 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,789 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 7,120 shares during the period. Ross Stores comprises approximately 1.4% of Oak Ridge Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Oak Ridge Investments LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $15,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ROST. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 262.1% during the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 97.8% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on ROST shares. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett upgraded Ross Stores to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $169.71.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of ROST stock traded up $0.34 on Friday, hitting $140.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,252,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,231,612. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $116.50 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $148.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.32 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders 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 1.05%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is presently 23.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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 owns 103,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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.