Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Purchases 255,511 Shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) by 40.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 895,017 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 255,511 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $316,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 4,425 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,565,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 0.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,762 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $3,688,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 0.4% in the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,311 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,920,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Polymer Capital Management US LLC raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1.1% in the third quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC now owns 3,230 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,013,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 179 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $480.00 to $511.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ralph Lauren from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $430.00 to $439.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $428.29.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of RL opened at $366.58 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $360.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $358.35. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 1 year low of $258.13 and a 1 year high of $393.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.35.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The textile maker reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.28. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.27 earnings per share. Ralph Lauren’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 18.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is currently 24.16%.

Ralph Lauren Company Profile

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of premium lifestyle products under the Ralph Lauren name and a portfolio of related brands. The company, founded by Ralph Lauren in 1967 and headquartered in New York City, has grown from a single line of men’s neckties into a global lifestyle business that spans apparel, accessories and home goods.

Ralph Lauren’s product assortment includes menswear, womenswear and childrenswear along with footwear, leather goods, eyewear, fragrances and home furnishings.