Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL Position Reduced by PDT Partners LLC

Key Points

• PDT Partners LLC significantly reduced its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation by selling 19,103 shares, resulting in a 92.9% decrease in its position during the first quarter.
• Ralph Lauren's recent financial performance includes earnings per share (EPS) of $3.77 for the quarter, surpassing estimates, with a year-over-year revenue growth of 13.7%.
• Analysts show a consensus rating of Moderate Buy for Ralph Lauren, with price targets ranging from $205 to $406.

PDT Partners LLC reduced its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 92.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,463 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 19,103 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC's holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake 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 in 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. Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 509.5% in the first quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 158,062 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $34,891,000 after purchasing an additional 132,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 8,741.2% in the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 123,600 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $27,283,000 after purchasing an additional 122,202 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on RL. Zacks Research upgraded Ralph Lauren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $355.00 to $406.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $360.00 price target (up from $321.00) on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $307.88.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

NYSE RL traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $309.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 128,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 843,922. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $293.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $261.25. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 52 week low of $170.26 and a 52 week high of $321.77. The stock has a market cap of $18.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.60.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.70 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the textile maker to buy up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication 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.