Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL Holdings Boosted by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,216 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $2,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in Ralph Lauren by 61.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 100 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on RL shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $416.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $425.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $399.19.

Ralph Lauren Stock Up 0.9%

RL stock opened at $390.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 1 year low of $198.62 and a 1 year high of $391.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $357.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $351.00. The firm has a market cap of $23.63 billion, a PE ratio of 26.58, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.46.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The textile maker reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.80 by $0.42. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 37.97%. The business had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.82 EPS. Ralph Lauren’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 16.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 27th were paid a $0.9125 dividend. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 27th. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Insider Transactions at Ralph Lauren

In other Ralph Lauren news, CEO Patrice Louvet sold 47,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.22, for a total transaction of $16,648,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 85,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,304,229.44. This represents a 35.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 38.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of premium lifestyle products under the Ralph Lauren name and a portfolio of related brands. The company, founded by Ralph Lauren in 1967 and headquartered in New York City, has grown from a single line of men’s neckties into a global lifestyle business that spans apparel, accessories and home goods.

Ralph Lauren’s product assortment includes menswear, womenswear and childrenswear along with footwear, leather goods, eyewear, fragrances and home furnishings.