Synovus Financial Corp Sells 451 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Synovus Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,619 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 451 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,363,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,287,162 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,250,423,000 after buying an additional 135,117 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,152,690,000 after acquiring an additional 807,850 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $649,318,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,805,427 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $575,647,000 after purchasing an additional 154,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,582,472 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $541,921,000 after purchasing an additional 142,200 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ROST shares. Citigroup upgraded Ross Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ross Stores from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In related news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,868,364. This represents a 15.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares in the company, 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 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.5 %

ROST opened at $143.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $133.72 and a 200-day moving average of $143.05. The company has a market capitalization of $47.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.63%.

Ross Stores Company Profile

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.