Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Position Boosted by Oak Ridge Investments LLC

Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,060 shares during the period. Ross Stores makes up 1.4% of Oak Ridge Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Oak Ridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $17,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,127,802,000 after purchasing an additional 67,861 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,152,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,222,915,000 after acquiring an additional 34,475 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 4.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,025,309,000 after acquiring an additional 316,652 shares in the last quarter. Marshfield Associates increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $588,337,000 after acquiring an additional 14,193 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 64.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,922 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.29.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $149.15 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $150.33 and its 200-day moving average is $147.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $49.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.53 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 23.15%.

About Ross Stores

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.