First Trust Advisors LP Sells 50,572 Shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) by 12.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 343,839 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 50,572 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $107,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 61.3% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 100 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in Ralph Lauren in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MAI Capital Management grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 248.4% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 108 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 57.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 143 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $16,648,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 85,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,304,229.44. The trade was a 35.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 38.34% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Ralph Lauren stock opened at $338.90 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 12 month low of $176.61 and a 12 month high of $389.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $361.53 and its 200-day moving average is $341.18.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The textile maker reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.80 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 37.97% and a net margin of 11.73%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.82 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $0.9125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $416.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $389.06.

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.