The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 548,630 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,196 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $80,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EL. United Bank boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 4,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 78.4% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 17,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,833,000 after acquiring an additional 7,797 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $1,147,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE EL opened at $138.07 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.22 and a 1-year high of $260.46. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.03. The company has a market capitalization of $49.49 billion, a PE ratio of 106.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.07.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.33. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 3.08%. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently 203.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Citigroup raised Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America raised Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $179.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.00.

Estée Lauder Companies 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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.