Brown Advisory Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Brown Advisory Inc. reduced its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 34.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,704 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 28,906 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $6,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $649,318,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,515,891 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,952,170,000 after buying an additional 3,995,760 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,336,312 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $504,684,000 after buying an additional 1,368,571 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 411.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,458,963 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $220,697,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth about $176,973,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $158.94.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST stock traded down $3.58 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $127.59. The stock had a trading volume of 2,056,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,814,014. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The stock's 50 day moving average is $137.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market cap of $41.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.11.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.77% and a net margin of 9.79%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.59%.

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.