Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) Shares Sold by Sierra Summit Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Sierra Summit Advisors LLC has significantly reduced its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 91.2%, selling over 37,000 shares, leaving it with just 3,590 shares valued at approximately $792,000.
• In contrast, other investors, including MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB and Sentry Investment Management LLC, have increased their stakes in Ralph Lauren by substantial percentages, indicating mixed investor sentiment within the market.
• The company recently reported earnings of $3.77 per share, surpassing analyst expectations, and announced a $1.50 billion share repurchase program, suggesting confidence in its stock valuation.

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC reduced its position in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 91.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,590 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 37,354 shares during the quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC's holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $792,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,120,508 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $489,795,000 after acquiring an additional 70,544 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,415,473 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $326,946,000 after buying an additional 205,121 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 30.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,512 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $285,841,000 after purchasing an additional 289,924 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 942,720 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $217,750,000 after purchasing an additional 13,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 565,687 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $124,870,000 after buying an additional 79,934 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ralph Lauren Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Ralph Lauren stock traded up $0.35 on Monday, reaching $288.61. 595,326 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 716,670. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 1-year low of $157.84 and a 1-year high of $306.34. The company has a market cap of $17.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $282.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $256.73.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.50 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.65 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 10.91%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.9125 dividend. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the textile maker to buy up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on RL. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $360.00 target price (up from $321.00) on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Cfra Research downgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $306.41.

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.