Patricia Mueller Sells 1,881 Shares of Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Stock

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Director Patricia Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of ROST stock traded down $3.03 on Thursday, hitting $209.84. 2,283,668 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,619,865. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $195.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.56. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $216.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.58.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $200.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 7,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Company Profile

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.