Focus Partners Wealth Sells 22,359 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Focus Partners Wealth lessened its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 77.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,670 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,359 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EL. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 163.8% in the fourth 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. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $554,509,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $251,304,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company's stock worth $250,704,000 after purchasing an additional 3,313,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 148.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company's stock worth $410,984,000 after purchasing an additional 3,278,632 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EL shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.20.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL traded down $0.67 on Friday, reaching $63.75. The stock had a trading volume of 2,534,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,107,628. 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 company has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.12. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.37 and a fifty-two week high of $127.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.40 and a 200-day moving average of $68.78.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently -57.85%.

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