State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 200 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

State of Michigan Retirement System lowered its holdings in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,680 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $2,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 12,999 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,313 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 1,990 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Guidance Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 3.7% during the first quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 5,785 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Insider Activity 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 stock was sold at an average price of $171.25, for a total transaction of $11,515,363.75. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 44,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,636,208.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Ralph Lauren stock opened at $167.72 on Friday. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 52 week low of $108.60 and a 52 week high of $192.03. The firm has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.29. The business’s fifty day moving average is $174.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.45.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The textile maker reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 27.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a boost from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is 33.95%.

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.