JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Stock Price

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $166.00 to $161.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the apparel retailer’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 11.85% from the company’s current price.

ROST has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ross Stores from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.87.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST traded up $2.43 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $143.94. The company had a trading volume of 1,666,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,651,552. Ross Stores has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $133.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.11. The stock has a market cap of $47.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,868,364. This trade represents a 15.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Hahn Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $11,203,000 after buying an additional 21,500 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,152,690,000 after purchasing an additional 807,850 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $269,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $17,524,000 after buying an additional 11,060 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.