Vanguard Group Inc. Has $1.67 Billion Stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its stake in Ralph Lauren by 1.9% in Q4 and now owns 4,735,743 shares (7.81%) valued at approximately $1.67 billion.
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" on RL with an average price target of $399.19 (16 Buys, 3 Holds, 1 Sell), and Bank of America recently raised its target to $450.
• Ralph Lauren beat Q4 estimates with EPS $6.22 vs $5.80 and revenue of $2.41 billion (up 12.2% YoY); the company has a market cap of $21.75 billion and pays an annualized dividend of $3.65 (yield ~1.0%).

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,735,743 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 91,185 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 7.81% of Ralph Lauren worth $1,674,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of RL. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8,937.8% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 963,340 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $264,225,000 after purchasing an additional 952,681 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $86,719,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,841,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 137.1% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 362,022 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $113,516,000 after purchasing an additional 209,330 shares during the period. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 190.3% in the 3rd quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. now owns 221,500 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $69,454,000 after purchasing an additional 145,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ralph Lauren from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ralph Lauren from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $399.19.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

NYSE:RL opened at $359.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a fifty day moving average of $357.85 and a 200-day moving average of $353.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a twelve month low of $223.56 and a twelve month high of $393.41.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The textile maker reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 37.97%. Ralph Lauren's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 16.25 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 27th were paid a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 27th. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is 24.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ralph Lauren news, CEO Patrice Louvet sold 47,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.22, for a total transaction of $16,648,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 85,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,304,229.44. The trade was a 35.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 38.34% of the company's stock.

About Ralph Lauren

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.

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