Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Has $71,000 Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 473 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $71,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PGGM Investments boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 724.1% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 24,848 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,611,000 after purchasing an additional 21,833 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,124 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,907,000 after buying an additional 4,228 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 917.2% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,440,000 after buying an additional 26,598 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 42.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 63,105 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $9,260,000 after acquiring an additional 18,685 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Ross Stores by 10.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,737,042 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $397,747,000 after acquiring an additional 254,720 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,694,665.26. The trade was a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $154.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $51.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average of $145.31 and a 200-day moving average of $145.11. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $127.53 and a one year high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.69.

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.