Long-Time Board Member of Successful Off-Price Retailer Sells Shares
Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) had one member of its boardroom sell a sizable block of shares last week. George P. Orban, a member of the company’s Board of Directors since 1982, discarded 56,000 shares on Friday at prices between $57.10 and $57.75 per share, of which 21,000 shares were held through various trust funds. After the recent sale, Mr. Orban currently holds a direct ownership stake of 506,750 shares, as well as an indirect ownership stake of 653,130 shares held through six trust funds.
The largest off-price apparel and home fashion chain in the United States has seen the value of its stock gain 7% since the start of the year. Despite their limited presence in the online space, off-price retailers such as Ross Stores are well-positioned to thrive in an increasingly digital environment, which has put massive pressure on most brick-and-mortar apparel retailers. Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)’s sales for the three months that ended April 30 were $3.09 billion, up from $2.94 billion recorded a year earlier. The increase was driven by the net addition of 74 stores since early May 2015 through the end of April 2016, as well as a 2% increase in comparable-store sales. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management cut its position in Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 9% during the June quarter to roughly 195,000 shares.
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Leading Provider of Open Source Solutions Registers Insider Selling
Red Hat Inc. (NYSE:RHT) saw a member of its executive team jettison a sizable block of shares earlier this week. Michael R. Cunningham, General Counsel of Red Hat since June 2004 and Executive Vice President since May 2007, sold 10,000 shares on Monday at prices ranging from $73.13 to $73.14 per share, cutting his overall holding to 64,800 shares.
The shares of the open-source software king are down by 10% thus far in 2016, partially owing to a disappointing outlook for the ongoing second quarter of fiscal year 2017 and for the full fiscal year. In late June, Red Hat Inc. (NYSE:RHT) released its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2017 ended May 31, which showed that total revenue increased by 18% year-over-year to $568 million. The company anticipates revenue in the range of $2.38 billion-to-$2.42 billion for fiscal year 2017. Just recently, analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded Red Hat to ‘Equal Weight’ from ‘Overweight’, saying that mid-teens billings growth with flat-to-down margins limits upside to free-cash-flow estimates. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors owned 1.02 million shares of Red Hat Inc. (NYSE:RHT) at the end of March.
