Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 8,759 Shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its position in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 94,424 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 8,759 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $33,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,048,755 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $328,848,000 after acquiring an additional 93,753 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 8,937.8% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 963,340 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $264,225,000 after purchasing an additional 952,681 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 11.7% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 941,832 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $295,321,000 after purchasing an additional 98,511 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 5.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 756,203 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $207,417,000 after purchasing an additional 36,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 2.1% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 715,733 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $224,455,000 after purchasing an additional 14,953 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ralph Lauren news, CEO Patrice Louvet sold 47,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.22, for a total value of $16,648,340.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,552 shares in the company, valued at $30,304,229.44. This represents a 35.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 38.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Ralph Lauren stock opened at $327.66 on Friday. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 1-year low of $176.61 and a 1-year high of $389.15. 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 capitalization of $19.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $354.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $344.65.

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

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 27th will be given a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 27th. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $422.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ralph Lauren from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Barclays increased their target price on Ralph Lauren from $416.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $391.56.

Ralph Lauren 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.