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 shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $130.31 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $42.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $135.91 and its 200 day moving average is $143.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth about $653,000. Members Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth about $245,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,077,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,226,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays set a $150.00 price target on Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.00.

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.