Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) CMO Karen Sykes Sells 2,556 Shares

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) CMO Karen Sykes sold 2,556 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.91, for a total transaction of $546,753.96. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 103,945 shares in the company, valued at $22,234,874.95. This represents a 2.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST traded down $1.38 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $211.49. The company had a trading volume of 945,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,589,979. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $216.80. The company has a fifty day moving average of $195.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.56. The company has a market cap of $68.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 24.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price target on Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 14.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,182,660 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,998,924,000 after buying an additional 5,060,954 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,974,551 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,782,873,000 after buying an additional 61,168 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in Ross Stores by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,268,700 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,310,081,000 after acquiring an additional 51,765 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Ross Stores by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,762,583 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,487,720,000 after acquiring an additional 180,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,673,823 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,102,077,000 after acquiring an additional 133,005 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ross Stores

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.