Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Acquires Shares of 22,126 Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 22,126 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,111,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 1,270.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 137 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 281.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 202 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 22,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd now owns 226 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Ralph Lauren by 333.3% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 351 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

RL opened at $221.99 on Tuesday. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1 year low of $155.96 and a 1 year high of $289.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $225.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $228.87. The firm has a market cap of $13.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is 30.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on RL shares. Barclays set a $260.00 price target on Ralph Lauren and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Argus upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Raymond James lowered shares of Ralph Lauren from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $272.14.

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