Swedbank AB Reduces Stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Swedbank AB lessened its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 20.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 300,000 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 75,694 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned about 0.48% of Ralph Lauren worth $69,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,139,975 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $221,007,000 after purchasing an additional 137,631 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 949,512 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $183,787,000 after purchasing an additional 30,694 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 10.2% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 839,296 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $162,714,000 after purchasing an additional 78,008 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 13.2% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 520,393 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $100,889,000 after purchasing an additional 60,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 492,787 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $95,537,000 after purchasing an additional 13,640 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RL. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $207.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $171.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Cfra set a $171.00 price target on Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $244.91.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RL traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $257.41. 213,748 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 650,684. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.72. The company has a market cap of $15.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.49. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1 year low of $142.26 and a 1 year high of $260.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $233.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $201.85.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 29.44%. The company'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. Equities analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.46%.

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.