Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 5,377 Shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC cut its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 53.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,626 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 5,377 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of RL. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,512 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $285,841,000 after buying an additional 289,924 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 24,164.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 254,292 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $56,132,000 after acquiring an additional 253,244 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,415,473 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $326,946,000 after acquiring an additional 205,121 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,517,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 671.0% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 136,239 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $31,637,000 after purchasing an additional 118,569 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on RL shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on Ralph Lauren from $260.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

RL stock traded up $2.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $276.40. 619,910 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 816,988. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a one year low of $155.96 and a one year high of $289.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $257.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $244.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 31.76%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.71 EPS. Ralph Lauren's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.9125 dividend. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.42%.

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the textile maker to reacquire up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board 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.