BNP Paribas Financial Markets Increases Stock Position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,139 shares of the textile maker's stock after acquiring an additional 54,409 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.20% of Ralph Lauren worth $23,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1,775.0% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 222 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $208.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James increased their target price on Ralph Lauren from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Cfra set a $171.00 price target on Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $223.90.

Ralph Lauren Trading Up 3.9 %

Ralph Lauren stock traded up $8.73 during trading on Friday, reaching $231.40. 613,111 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 857,058. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $203.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.21. The company has a market capitalization of $14.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.49. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 52-week low of $127.68 and a 52-week high of $237.16.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The textile maker reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 29.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is presently 31.46%.

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.