New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Position in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,404 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 1,413 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.07% of Ralph Lauren worth $9,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 56.1% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,470 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 888 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 758.1% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,728 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $8,743,000 after buying an additional 35,098 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 5.9% during the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 2,324 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 761.6% during the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 30,416 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $6,714,000 after buying an additional 26,886 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 709.6% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,692 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

NYSE RL traded up $5.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $279.52. 352,160 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 814,029. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 52-week low of $155.96 and a 52-week high of $289.33. The company has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.08, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The firm's 50-day moving average is $265.51 and its 200-day moving average is $246.68.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. Ralph Lauren's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 repurchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is presently 31.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research 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 stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $260.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Cfra Research downgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.88.

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.