Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) CMO Karen Fleming Sells 5,270 Shares

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.70, for a total transaction of $672,979.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 93,126 shares in the company, valued at $11,892,190.20. This trade represents a 5.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Karen Fleming also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 17th, Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of Ross Stores stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Ross Stores stock traded up $3.26 on Wednesday, hitting $132.37. 2,136,733 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,563,297. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company has a market cap of $43.67 billion, a PE ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $136.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 8.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,965,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $295,857,000 after buying an additional 151,255 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Ross Stores by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 31,460 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in Ross Stores by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 5,761 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,902 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 667.9% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 25,324 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,812,000 after purchasing an additional 22,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at about $1,378,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ROST. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “negative” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.40.

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.