Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Shares Bought by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 120.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,330 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 4,545 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 985.0% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 1,576 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,517,000. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 9.3% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,062 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the first quarter worth approximately $1,552,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 48.8% in the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 15,709 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $3,468,000 after purchasing an additional 5,149 shares during the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RL has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ralph Lauren from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Cfra Research cut shares of Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group set a $384.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of RL stock traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $266.02. 314,336 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 821,904. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 52-week low of $155.96 and a 52-week high of $289.33. The stock has a market cap of $16.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The stock's fifty day moving average is $242.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $241.44.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.9125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. This is a boost from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.44%.

Ralph Lauren declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to purchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are 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.