The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Vision Capital Management Inc.

Vision Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 49.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,652 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,598 shares during the quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,314,000 after buying an additional 913,470 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,587,000 after purchasing an additional 70,307 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,900 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EL has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.55.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL stock opened at $65.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.49, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average is $77.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.52. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.54.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,128,300. This represents a 32.20 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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