Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) Shares Sold by Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.

Key Points

• Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 1.9%, now holding approximately 148,309 shares valued at $32.7 million, making it the 19th largest position in their portfolio.
• Ralph Lauren recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.83 to $0.9125 per share, representing a yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 29.15%.
• The company has initiated a $1.50 billion stock buyback program, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 148,309 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 2,858 shares during the quarter. Ralph Lauren comprises 1.6% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Ralph Lauren worth $32,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted 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 valued at $333,958,000 after acquiring an additional 275,391 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 valued at $56,132,000 after acquiring an additional 253,244 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 1st quarter valued at $37,517,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 1st quarter valued at $23,520,000. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter valued at $20,788,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on RL. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Cfra Research raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RL opened at $302.25 on Thursday. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 52 week low of $158.37 and a 52 week high of $306.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $283.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $257.34. 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 (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.70 earnings per share. Ralph Lauren's revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.9125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.15%.

Ralph Lauren 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.

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