Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Price Target Cut to $165.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $175.00 to $165.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

ROST has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Gordon Haskett raised Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.00.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $140.69 on Thursday. Ross Stores has a one year low of $119.73 and a one year high of $163.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $146.18 and a 200 day moving average of $144.32. The company has a market capitalization of $46.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.11 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Marshfield Associates increased its position in Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $588,337,000 after buying an additional 14,193 shares in the last quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 128,540 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $19,347,000 after buying an additional 1,861 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Ross Stores by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 352,930 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $53,119,000 after buying an additional 69,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 29,582 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,452,000 after buying an additional 3,523 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently 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.