Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Shares Bought by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 71.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,043 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 33,489 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.12% of Ralph Lauren worth $11,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in RL. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. now owns 854 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 576 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 99.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 245 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,454 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on RL shares. StockNews.com raised Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $132.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $135.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $195.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.64.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of Ralph Lauren stock traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $171.95. 739,808 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 987,258. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $175.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.53. Ralph Lauren Co. has a one year low of $103.17 and a one year high of $192.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The textile maker reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.53 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 8.90%. The firm's revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.01%.

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, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, and giftware; and fragrances.