Schroder Investment Management Group Buys 118,569 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 671.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,239 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 118,569 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.22% of Ralph Lauren worth $31,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1.6% during 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. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren during the third quarter valued at approximately $331,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 30.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 305,532 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $59,233,000 after purchasing an additional 71,479 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 4.5% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 6,949 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,347,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 66.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 32,666 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $6,333,000 after buying an additional 12,995 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James cut shares of Ralph Lauren from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $257.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Argus raised Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $280.00 to $286.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.62.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 0.7 %

Ralph Lauren stock traded down $1.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $196.53. The stock had a trading volume of 3,060,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 835,406. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.76. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1-year low of $155.96 and a 1-year high of $289.33. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $248.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.50.

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

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is presently 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.