HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 342 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,492 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 342 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $483,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 492,787 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $95,537,000 after buying an additional 13,640 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 145.8% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 59,927 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $11,618,000 after purchasing an additional 35,550 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Ralph Lauren during the third quarter worth about $1,819,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 210.1% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 4,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Capital Group raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 83.6% in the third quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 6,653 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 3,029 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

RL stock opened at $230.28 on Friday. Ralph Lauren Co. has a one year low of $134.90 and a one year high of $237.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $213.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.64. The stock has a market cap of $14.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The textile maker reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 29.44% and a net margin of 10.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is 31.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $171.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Cfra set a $171.00 price objective on Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James upped their price target on Ralph Lauren from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.90.

Ralph Lauren 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, floor coverings, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, dining, decorative accessories, and giftware; and fragrances.