Toronto Dominion Bank Trims Holdings in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Toronto Dominion Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,324 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 1,067 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of RL. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 70,544 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,415,473 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $326,946,000 after acquiring an additional 205,121 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 30.6% in the 4th 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,079,578 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $249,361,000 after acquiring an additional 82,819 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 982,927 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $227,085,000 after buying an additional 65,303 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $384.00 price target on Ralph Lauren and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

NYSE RL traded up $5.89 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $281.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 422,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 956,921. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 12 month low of $155.96 and a 12 month high of $289.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $234.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $238.66.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. Ralph Lauren's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 paid a $0.9125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is presently 31.44%.

Ralph Lauren declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the textile maker to repurchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.