Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Rating Increased to Overweight at Wells Fargo & Company

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) was upgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $150.00 price target on the apparel retailer’s stock, up from their previous price target of $140.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 17.30% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Five 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.67.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $127.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $42.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $135.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.80. Ross Stores has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. Equities analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 139,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,760,529.79. This represents a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 8.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,965,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $295,857,000 after purchasing an additional 151,255 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 261.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 6,734 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 4,871 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,531 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 13.5% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 29,582 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,452,000 after buying an additional 3,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Ross Stores by 24.5% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 352,930 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $53,119,000 after acquiring an additional 69,411 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.