Close Asset Management Ltd Sells 4,896 Shares of The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Close Asset Management Ltd lessened its stake in The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 17.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,856 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,896 shares during the quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Estee Lauder Companies were worth $1,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Templeton & Phillips Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 97.3% during the 1st quarter. Templeton & Phillips Capital Management LLC now owns 24,206 shares of the company's stock worth $1,598,000 after buying an additional 11,936 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its position in Estee Lauder Companies by 2.8% during the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 83,350 shares of the company's stock worth $5,501,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the period. VCI Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Estee Lauder Companies by 12.7% during the first quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,538 shares of the company's stock worth $564,000 after acquiring an additional 965 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its position in Estee Lauder Companies by 22.6% during the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 173,927 shares of the company's stock worth $11,479,000 after acquiring an additional 32,098 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC increased its position in Estee Lauder Companies by 16.2% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 19,271 shares of the company's stock worth $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 2,680 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $67.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. HSBC upgraded shares of Estee Lauder Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $99.00 in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $62.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $82.50.

Estee Lauder Companies Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $89.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock's 50-day moving average is $74.86 and its 200-day moving average is $69.95. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.37 and a 52-week high of $103.44. The company has a market cap of $32.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.81, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.17.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.51 billion. Estee Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 5.89% and a positive return on equity of 15.60%. Estee Lauder Companies's quarterly 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. Equities research 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 firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Estee Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.

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