Virtu Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 4,071 Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,071 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $587,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 99.2% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 245 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 113,200.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the third quarter worth about $188,000. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter worth about $204,000. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on RL. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ralph Lauren

In other Ralph Lauren news, COO Jane Nielsen sold 67,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.25, for a total value of $11,515,363.75. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 44,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,636,208.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 39.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Shares of RL opened at $183.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.68. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1-year low of $108.60 and a 1-year high of $192.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $171.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.97.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The textile maker reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 27.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.07 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.86%.

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, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, and giftware; and fragrances.