Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Purchases 604 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,461 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of RL. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 24.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 84,545 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $17,425,000 after purchasing an additional 16,575 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 1.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 64,999 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $12,601,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,257 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $752,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,325 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 8,721 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on RL shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $332.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Ralph Lauren in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $310.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays set a $260.00 price target on Ralph Lauren and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $272.14.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of RL stock opened at $248.85 on Friday. Ralph Lauren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $155.96 and a fifty-two week high of $289.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $218.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.76.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. Research analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th were given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.11%.

About Ralph Lauren

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.