Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) CMO Sells $657,097.28 in Stock

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total transaction of $657,097.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 110,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,400,425.20. This represents a 4.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST traded up $10.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $137.00. The stock had a trading volume of 7,301,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,631,656. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.36 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The stock has a market cap of $45.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $134.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.35. 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 (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This is a positive change 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 yield of 1.18%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is presently 25.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $165.00 price target (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $161.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Kwmg LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 48,427 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $6,188,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 11.4% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,758 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 2,230 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 93,700.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,690 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 4,685 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in Ross Stores by 5.4% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 75,791 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $9,685,000 after buying an additional 3,858 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.