American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 203,321 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,700 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $63,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,007,745 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $276,407,000 after purchasing an additional 117,494 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 32,362 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $10,147,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 265,601 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $83,282,000 after acquiring an additional 18,355 shares during the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren during the third quarter worth about $899,000. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the third quarter worth approximately $86,719,000. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim started coverage on Ralph Lauren in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $435.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ralph Lauren

In related news, CEO Patrice Louvet sold 47,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.22, for a total transaction of $16,648,340.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 85,552 shares in the company, valued at $30,304,229.44. The trade was a 35.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 38.34% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Ralph Lauren stock opened at $359.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $21.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.47. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 1-year low of $176.61 and a 1-year high of $389.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $362.10 and a 200-day moving average of $339.97.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The textile maker reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.42. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 37.97% and a net margin of 11.73%.The business had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.82 EPS. Ralph Lauren’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th were given a $0.9125 dividend. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.85%.

About Ralph Lauren

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.