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

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

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.00.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $140.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $46.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores has a 12 month low of $119.73 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.21. 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 (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.32 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. The trade was a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This trade represents a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 in the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 8.9% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,986 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $878,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 539.1% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,505 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 11,392 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 1st quarter worth approximately $954,000. Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 3,015 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the first quarter worth approximately $208,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by 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.