Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Chairman Sells $1,481,947.60 in Stock

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total value of $1,481,947.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $127.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $135.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ROST. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 8.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,965,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $295,857,000 after buying an additional 151,255 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 91.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 3,664 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,747 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 153,583 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $23,116,000 after purchasing an additional 6,580 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 475.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,566 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 49,523 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $7,454,000 after purchasing an additional 16,248 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.