Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Price Target Raised to $430.00 at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays raised its price target on Ralph Lauren to $430 (from $416) and kept an "overweight" rating, implying roughly a 26% upside from the stock's current level.
• Ralph Lauren beat expectations for the quarter with EPS $6.22 vs. $5.80 and revenue of $2.41B vs. $2.30B, with revenue up 12.2% year-over-year and strong margins/ROE.
• CEO Patrice Louvet sold 47,000 shares (~$16.65M), reducing his holding by about 35%, even as several large institutions materially increased their stakes.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at Barclays from $416.00 to $430.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the textile maker's stock. Barclays's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 26.30% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Ralph Lauren from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $425.00 to $410.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Evercore set a $420.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $389.06.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of NYSE:RL traded down $12.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $340.47. The company had a trading volume of 85,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 622,994. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.52. Ralph Lauren has a one year low of $176.61 and a one year high of $389.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $361.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $340.06. The company has a market capitalization of $20.61 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.47.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The textile maker reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.42. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 37.97%. The business had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.82 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ralph Lauren news, CEO Patrice Louvet sold 47,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.22, for a total value of $16,648,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 85,552 shares in the company, valued at $30,304,229.44. This represents a 35.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 38.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RL. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8,937.8% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 963,340 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $264,225,000 after buying an additional 952,681 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the third quarter worth about $86,719,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,324,018 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $468,186,000 after purchasing an additional 275,263 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 895,017 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $316,487,000 after buying an additional 255,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 881,360 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $311,658,000 after buying an additional 245,242 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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