Lazard Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 7,678.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,890 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 10,750 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $2,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,120,508 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $489,795,000 after buying an additional 70,544 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,415,473 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $326,946,000 after purchasing an additional 205,121 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,512 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $285,841,000 after purchasing an additional 289,924 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,079,578 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $249,361,000 after purchasing an additional 82,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 982,927 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $227,085,000 after purchasing an additional 65,303 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of RL opened at $274.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Ralph Lauren Co. has a twelve month low of $155.96 and a twelve month high of $289.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.95.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on RL shares. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday. BNP Paribas raised shares of Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.29.

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.