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

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Director Patricia Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This trade represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ ROST traded down $1.82 on Friday, hitting $208.02. 1,015,831 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,585,514. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $195.84 and a 200-day moving average of $173.81. The stock has a market cap of $67.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.97. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $216.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued 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 company had revenue of $6.64 billion for 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%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. Analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.445 dividend. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.51%.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $250,000. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth about $2,253,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 673,254 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $121,398,000 after buying an additional 10,175 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $234,000. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its position in Ross Stores by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,955 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ROST. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 target price on Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.29.

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.