Prudential Financial Inc. Purchases 13,879 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,873 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 13,879 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.15% of Ralph Lauren worth $22,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RL. Boston Partners increased its stake in Ralph Lauren by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 982,927 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $227,085,000 after acquiring an additional 65,303 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 949,512 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $183,787,000 after purchasing an additional 30,694 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 839,296 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $162,714,000 after buying an additional 78,008 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 492,787 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $95,537,000 after buying an additional 13,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the third quarter valued at about $94,831,000. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on RL shares. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $332.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of 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. Barclays increased their price target on Ralph Lauren from $257.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.62.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 1.3 %

Ralph Lauren stock opened at $228.69 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $251.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.49. 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 market cap of $14.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.50.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. Equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.