Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Shares Purchased by Parallel Advisors LLC

Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 74.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 272 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 116 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $60,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of RL. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 7,542 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after buying an additional 1,838 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,630 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,063,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,582 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 10,560 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,439,000 after buying an additional 2,422 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ralph Lauren from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Cfra Research lowered Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:RL opened at $274.86 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $238.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $240.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 12 month low of $155.96 and a 12 month high of $289.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.51.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.9125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.44%.

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the textile maker to purchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Profile

Ralph Lauren Corporation designs, markets, and distributes lifestyle products in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers apparel, including a range of men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing; footwear and accessories, which comprise casual shoes, dress shoes, boots, sneakers, sandals, eyewear, watches, fashion and fine jewelry, scarves, hats, gloves, and umbrellas, as well as leather goods, such as handbags, luggage, small leather goods, and belts; home products consisting of bed and bath lines, furniture, fabric and wallcoverings, floor coverings, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, dining, decorative accessories, and giftware; and fragrances.