Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) Shares Sold by Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. cut its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) by 1.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 148,309 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 2,858 shares during the period. Ralph Lauren makes up approximately 1.6% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $32,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in RL. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 22.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,512,903 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $333,958,000 after acquiring an additional 275,391 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 24,164.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 254,292 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $56,132,000 after acquiring an additional 253,244 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the first quarter valued at about $37,517,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the first quarter valued at about $23,520,000. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter valued at about $20,788,000. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ralph Lauren Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Ralph Lauren stock opened at $302.25 on Thursday. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 52-week low of $158.37 and a 52-week high of $306.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $283.53 and a 200 day moving average of $257.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $18.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.53.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.50 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.91% and a return on equity of 33.72%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.70 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the textile maker to buy up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a dividend of $0.9125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is 29.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $385.00 to $404.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up previously from $321.00) on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.41.

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.