Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 16,575 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 24.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,545 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 16,575 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Ralph Lauren worth $17,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 86.6% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 222 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8,933.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 271 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the third quarter worth $58,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 80.8% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 367 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $171.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Cfra set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $223.90.

Ralph Lauren Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:RL traded up $7.82 on Friday, reaching $230.28. 1,628,441 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 846,744. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.50. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $214.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 52 week low of $134.90 and a 52 week high of $237.16.

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

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is currently 31.46%.

Ralph Lauren 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.