The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 49,635 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,092 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $3,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Peterson Wealth Services raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 1,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EL shares. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.4 %

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $67.04 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $155.73. The company has a market cap of $24.07 billion, a PE ratio of -34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.81.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Estée Lauder Companies Company Profile

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc manufactures, markets, and sells skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products worldwide. It offers skin care products, including moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, body care, exfoliators, acne care and oil correctors, facial masks, and sun care products; and makeup products, such as lipsticks, lip glosses, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.