Greenleaf Trust Sells 2,329 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Greenleaf Trust cut its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 42.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,164 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,329 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,626,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,692,479,000 after purchasing an additional 140,488 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,271 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,483,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,085,000 after purchasing an additional 254,198 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,512,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,080,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,265,000 after acquiring an additional 51,039 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $148.90 on Wednesday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.22 and a 12-month high of $255.80. The company has a market capitalization of $53.38 billion, a PE ratio of 114.54, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $146.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 203.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on EL shares. Bank of America raised Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Citigroup raised Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $141.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.00.

About Estée Lauder Companies

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.