PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Buys 1,174 Shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,173 shares of the textile maker's stock after acquiring an additional 1,174 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 43,370 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $10,018,000 after acquiring an additional 1,939 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 962.5% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 680 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,836 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $3,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 83,753 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $19,345,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,054,000. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 0.0%

Ralph Lauren stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $290.37. 137,458 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 871,870. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 12 month low of $161.43 and a 12 month high of $306.34. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $283.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $257.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.53.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.50 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.91% and a return on equity of 33.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.70 EPS. The company's revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.15%.

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the textile maker to buy up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Ralph Lauren

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.