Advisory Services Network LLC Acquires New Holdings in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,562 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,054,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in RL. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,415,473 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $326,946,000 after purchasing an additional 205,121 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 289,924 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 82,819 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in Ralph Lauren by 7.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 968,776 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $223,513,000 after purchasing an additional 19,264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Ralph Lauren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Cfra Research raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ralph Lauren from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $240.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $277.43.

Ralph Lauren Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:RL traded up $4.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $206.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 726,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 845,912. Ralph Lauren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $155.96 and a fifty-two week high of $289.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $234.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $227.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.38.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. As a group, analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is 30.11%.

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.