Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 70,252 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 891,429 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 70,252 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 1.44% of Ralph Lauren worth $205,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in RL. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,461 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth about $1,796,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter valued at about $235,000. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 7,469 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 429,870 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $99,291,000 after purchasing an additional 53,241 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:RL opened at $237.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.66 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44. 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 52-week low of $155.96 and a 52-week high of $289.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $219.85 and a 200 day moving average of $229.80.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last posted 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Cfra Research upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $332.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $272.14.

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.