Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. has reduced its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 23.7%, owning 29,665 shares valued at approximately $6.51 million following the sale of 9,227 shares.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for Ralph Lauren, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. increasing theirs from $355.00 to $406.00, while consensus earnings per share estimations for the current year stand at $12.01.
• Ralph Lauren reported $3.77 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, and declared a $1.50 billion stock repurchase plan, reflecting management's belief that the shares are undervalued.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 23.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,665 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 9,227 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $6,508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 5,409 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 725.7% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,156 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 481,109 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $111,133,000 after acquiring an additional 6,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 1,793 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on RL shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Ralph Lauren to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

NYSE:RL traded up $0.4160 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $285.8760. The stock had a trading volume of 594,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 745,843. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $286.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.14. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 12-month low of $167.32 and a 12-month high of $306.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $17.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.53.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 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 company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.70 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 generally an indication 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.