The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Acquired by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 9.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,403 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,618 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Estee Lauder Companies were worth $6,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Estee Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,025,532,000 after acquiring an additional 2,344,210 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Estee Lauder Companies by 163.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,078,406,000 after acquiring an additional 8,930,011 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Estee Lauder Companies by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 7,858,158 shares of the company's stock valued at $589,205,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458,379 shares during the period. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Estee Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $554,509,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Estee Lauder Companies by 148.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $410,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,278,632 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on EL. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Estee Lauder Companies from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Estee Lauder Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Estee Lauder Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.45.

Estee Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL traded up $1.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $80.28. 10,751,081 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,258,085. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.17, a PEG ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 1.12. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.37 and a 1-year high of $108.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. Estee Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 15.60% and a negative net margin of 5.89%. The firm's revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estee Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Estee Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -57.85%.

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