Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Stock Price

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by stock analysts at Barclays from $157.00 to $156.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the apparel retailer's stock. Barclays's price target would suggest a potential upside of 20.04% from the stock's previous close.

ROST has been the subject of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup raised shares of Ross Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ross Stores from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $130.00 to $128.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $159.33.

Ross Stores Stock Down 14.6%

Shares of ROST traded down $22.29 on Friday, reaching $129.96. The stock had a trading volume of 5,148,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,661,870. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. Ross Stores has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the business'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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. This trade represents a 5.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 615 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 6.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 18,129 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,317,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in Ross Stores by 372.5% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 241 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Optimize Financial Inc raised its position in Ross Stores by 53.0% in the first quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 5,157 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 39.9% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,875 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $3,562,000 after acquiring an additional 7,951 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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