Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 19,264 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 968,776 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,264 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $223,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burney Co. bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,711,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter worth $3,014,000. Amundi grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 195,208 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $47,444,000 after purchasing an additional 14,889 shares during the period. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter valued at $2,264,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 31.9% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 11,913 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,752,000 after purchasing an additional 2,880 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on RL shares. Raymond James lowered shares of Ralph Lauren from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $332.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $258.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.62.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

NYSE RL opened at $196.53 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $247.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1 year low of $155.96 and a 1 year high of $289.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.14 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.50.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. Analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.