Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Price Target to $165.00

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $175.00 to $165.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on ROST. StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.00.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST stock opened at $140.69 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $146.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.21. The firm has a market cap of $46.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Ross Stores has a 12 month low of $119.73 and a 12 month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.71%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This represents a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,916,192 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,243,740,000 after purchasing an additional 346,474 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,127,802,000 after purchasing an additional 67,861 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,152,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,222,915,000 after purchasing an additional 34,475 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 4.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,025,309,000 after buying an additional 316,652 shares during the period. Finally, Marshfield Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $588,337,000 after buying an additional 14,193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

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.