Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Stake Decreased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 454,601 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 24,329 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.73% of Ralph Lauren worth $105,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $94,831,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 30.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,512 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $285,841,000 after acquiring an additional 289,924 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,415,473 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $326,946,000 after acquiring an additional 205,121 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 671.0% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 136,239 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $31,637,000 after purchasing an additional 118,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the third quarter worth approximately $19,320,000. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on RL shares. Cfra Research upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $280.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.43.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

RL opened at $206.51 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $233.35 and a 200-day moving average of $228.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 12-month low of $155.96 and a 12-month high of $289.33.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. Equities analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.11%.

About Ralph Lauren

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.