Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 51,197 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,230 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $7,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 22,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,209,000 after buying an additional 5,025 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 16,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,402,000 after buying an additional 4,773 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 788.4% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 954 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on EL. Bank of America upgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Bernstein Bank increased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $160.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.92.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $132.94 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.18. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.22 and a 12-month high of $209.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $47.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.69, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.07.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently 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.