Insider Selling: Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) CMO Sells 2,932 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Karen Fleming, CMO of Ross Stores, sold 2,932 shares at an average price of $149.09, bringing her total holdings to 88,335 shares valued at approximately $13.17 million.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $1.56 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $5.53 billion, reflecting a 4.6% increase compared to the previous year.
• Ross Stores declared a quarterly dividend of $0.405, with a dividend yield of 1.1%, payable on September 30th to stockholders of record on September 9th.

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total transaction of $437,131.88. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 88,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,169,865.15. The trade was a 3.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $151.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,346,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,481,234. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $145.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $158.69.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.54 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 37.37%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is currently 25.71%.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ROST. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 16,435.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 806,099 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $103,011,000 after purchasing an additional 801,224 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.8% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,215 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.8% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 664,621 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $84,932,000 after purchasing an additional 17,933 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.4% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 75,791 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $9,685,000 after acquiring an additional 3,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. raised its position 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 worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 4,685 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $160.00 price target (up from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.67.

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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