Freedom Investment Management Inc. Acquires 4,523 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 360.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,778 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 4,523 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the third quarter worth $331,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the third quarter worth $86,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 81.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 121,139 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $23,485,000 after purchasing an additional 54,409 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1.6% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 32,465 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $6,294,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 12.4% in the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 19,882 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $3,855,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of RL stock traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $222.67. 622,629 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 858,118. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $202.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.48. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1-year low of $125.25 and a 1-year high of $237.16. The company has a market cap of $13.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The textile maker reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on RL. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $171.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Cfra set a $171.00 price target on Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $223.90.

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.