Brown Advisory Inc. Increases Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 31.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 71,775 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,071 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $9,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. ICW Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,458 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,359,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 3.8% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,932 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 12,032 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,535,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,707 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $177.87 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $161.57 and its 200 day moving average is $147.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $179.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.03.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.20. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.21% and a net margin of 9.47%.The business had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Ross Stores has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.380-6.46 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.770-1.85 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 9th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total value of $437,131.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 88,335 shares in the company, valued at $13,169,865.15. This trade represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen C. Brinkley sold 6,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.97, for a total value of $971,793.89. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 57,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,607,101.64. This represents a 10.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 48,720 shares of company stock worth $7,154,172 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, UBS Group set a $203.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.00.

Ross Stores 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.