Bessemer Group Inc. Has $370,000 Stock Holdings in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 82.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,677 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 7,736 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 709.6% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,692 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,483 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,218 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,158 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 1st quarter valued at $230,000. Finally, Dupont Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 21,591 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $4,766,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares during the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ralph Lauren Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of RL stock traded up $5.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $279.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 352,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 814,029. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $265.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $246.68. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 52 week low of $155.96 and a 52 week high of $289.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company has a market cap of $16.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.49.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.71 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.9125 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 1.31%. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.44%.

Ralph Lauren announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to repurchase up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on RL shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group set a $384.00 target price on Ralph Lauren and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.88.

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.