American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 186,175 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,044 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.30% of Ralph Lauren worth $43,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of RL. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 70.3% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,436 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,411,000 after purchasing an additional 5,133 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,848 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 81.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 121,139 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $23,485,000 after acquiring an additional 54,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the third quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 1.8 %

Ralph Lauren stock opened at $224.60 on Friday. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1-year low of $155.96 and a 1-year high of $289.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $251.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.50.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Argus raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $332.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.62.

Ralph Lauren Company Profile

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.