Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management reduced its stake in Ralph Lauren by 68.7% in Q4, selling 28,016 shares and leaving the firm with 12,774 shares valued at about $4.52 million.
• CEO Patrice Louvet sold 47,000 shares on Feb. 10 for roughly $16.65 million (avg. $354.22), cutting his holding by 35.46%; insiders now own about 38.34% of the company.
• Ralph Lauren beat quarterly expectations with EPS $6.22 (vs. $5.80) and revenue of $2.41 billion, analysts are largely positive (consensus rating: Moderate Buy, target $391.56), and the company declared a $0.9125 quarterly dividend ($3.65 annual).

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 68.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,774 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 28,016 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $4,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 18.6% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 32,362 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $10,147,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 7.4% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 265,601 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $83,282,000 after purchasing an additional 18,355 shares during the period. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter valued at $899,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter valued at $86,719,000. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its stake in Ralph Lauren by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 25,578 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $8,020,000 after buying an additional 6,354 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $416.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $425.00 to $410.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Ralph Lauren from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $391.56.

Insider Activity at Ralph Lauren

In related news, CEO Patrice Louvet sold 47,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.22, for a total value of $16,648,340.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 85,552 shares in the company, valued at $30,304,229.44. This represents a 35.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 38.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

NYSE:RL opened at $327.66 on Monday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $354.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $345.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $19.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.47. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $176.61 and a fifty-two week high of $389.15.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The textile maker reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.80 by $0.42. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 37.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be given a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 27th. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.85%.

Ralph Lauren Company Profile

Ralph Lauren Corporation NYSE: RL is a global designer, marketer and distributor of premium lifestyle products under the Ralph Lauren name and a portfolio of related brands. The company, founded by Ralph Lauren in 1967 and headquartered in New York City, has grown from a single line of men's neckties into a global lifestyle business that spans apparel, accessories and home goods.

Ralph Lauren's product assortment includes menswear, womenswear and childrenswear along with footwear, leather goods, eyewear, fragrances and home furnishings.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.