23,140 Shares in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Acquired by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 23,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,735,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EL. Peterson Wealth Services raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 1,506 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 38,236 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,867,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EL. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.15.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 2.5%

EL stock traded down $1.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $66.92. The company had a trading volume of 4,617,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,122,573. The stock has a market cap of $24.07 billion, a PE ratio of -34.32, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.33 and a 200-day moving average of $68.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $48.37 and a one year high of $125.90.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.36. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio is -57.85%.

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.