Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 7,899 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,132 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,899 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $16,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,188,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,555 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,151,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,169,000 after acquiring an additional 496,308 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth $518,975,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,163,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,612,000 after acquiring an additional 140,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,644,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,685,000 after acquiring an additional 406,753 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE:EL opened at $98.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $35.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $95.87 and a fifty-two week high of $183.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.17.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.32%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total transaction of $1,815,989.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,389 shares in the company, valued at $6,958,990.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total transaction of $1,815,989.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,958,990.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Jueptner sold 12,786 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.62, for a total transaction of $1,670,107.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $728,598.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,255 shares of company stock worth $5,453,232 over the last three months. 12.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $145.00 to $129.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $164.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.87.

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.