Graham Capital Management L.P. Sells 7,026 Shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. has significantly decreased its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 63.4%, reducing its holdings to 4,064 shares, valued at approximately $897,000.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Ralph Lauren, with Caption Management LLC raising its stake by 70.0% and Panagora Asset Management Inc. increasing its stake by an astonishing 4,206.3%.
• Ralph Lauren's stock has seen positive analyst ratings, with a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" and a price target averaging $306.41, following a recent EPS of $3.77 that surpassed expectations.

Graham Capital Management L.P. cut its position in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 63.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,064 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 7,026 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RL. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,120,508 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $489,795,000 after acquiring an additional 70,544 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,512,903 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $333,958,000 after purchasing an additional 275,391 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 16.5% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 565,687 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $124,870,000 after purchasing an additional 79,934 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 311,274 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $71,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 7.8% during the first quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 300,837 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $66,407,000 after purchasing an additional 21,681 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on RL shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ralph Lauren to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $307.88.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

RL stock traded up $2.93 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $312.72. 630,032 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 569,065. The stock's 50-day moving average is $294.73 and its 200 day moving average is $261.61. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 52-week low of $170.26 and a 52-week high of $321.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $18.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.98, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Ralph Lauren declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the textile maker to reacquire up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Company 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.