Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL – Get Rating) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,470 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 12,474 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.11% of Ralph Lauren worth $7,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 224.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 549,031 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $58,172,000 after purchasing an additional 379,563 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 769,709 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $81,331,000 after buying an additional 31,285 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 65,460 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $6,917,000 after acquiring an additional 8,876 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 240.0% during the fourth quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 510 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth about $1,257,000. 66.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Ralph Lauren from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Bank of America upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $130.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on Ralph Lauren from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $92.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.00.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

NYSE RL opened at $114.00 on Friday. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1 year low of $82.23 and a 1 year high of $128.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $113.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 25th. The textile maker reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.25. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 22.88% and a net margin of 8.01%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. Ralph Lauren’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.27%.

Ralph Lauren Profile

(Get Rating)

Ralph Lauren Corp. engages in the design, marketing, and distribution of luxury lifestyle products, including apparel, footwear and accessories, home, fragrances, and hospitality categories. The firm offers products under the brands of Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children, and Chaps.