GDS Wealth Management Sells 26,168 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

GDS Wealth Management decreased its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 32.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,418 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,168 shares during the period. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $7,812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 12,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $998,000 after acquiring an additional 1,915 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 426,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,340,000 after purchasing an additional 9,550 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 25,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,718,000 after purchasing an additional 4,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 16,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on EL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $160.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $169.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Bernstein Bank increased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.92.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:EL traded up $2.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $131.66. 1,516,518 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,799,584. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.22 and a fifty-two week high of $204.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.97, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.97.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.31%.

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