Marshall Wace LLP Sells 338,547 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Marshall Wace LLP lessened its holdings in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 40.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 490,142 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 338,547 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.79% of Ralph Lauren worth $113,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of RL. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,415,473 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $326,946,000 after buying an additional 205,121 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake 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. raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,079,578 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $249,361,000 after acquiring an additional 82,819 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 982,927 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $227,085,000 after purchasing an additional 65,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 968,776 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $223,513,000 after purchasing an additional 19,264 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on RL. Cfra Research raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ralph Lauren from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $280.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $310.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $277.43.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

RL traded up $3.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $207.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 125,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 841,911. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.80 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $228.19. Ralph Lauren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $155.96 and a fifty-two week high of $289.33.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is 30.11%.

About Ralph Lauren

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.