Ieq Capital LLC Decreases Stake in The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. $EL

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC reduced its stake in The Estee Lauder Companies by 50.4% during the first quarter, owning 4,082 shares valued at $269,000.
• In contrast, several institutional investors, including Gamco Investors INC. and Gabelli Funds LLC, significantly increased their holdings in the company during the same period.
• Analysts have varied ratings on Estee Lauder, with target prices raised by multiple firms; notably, Citigroup increased its target from $60.00 to $99.00.

Ieq Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 50.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,082 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,146 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in Estee Lauder Companies were worth $269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 91,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,838,000 after acquiring an additional 4,690 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 442.5% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,367 shares of the company's stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 57.3% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 626 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Estee Lauder Companies by 70.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,753 shares of the company's stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,620 shares of the company's stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EL. Wall Street Zen cut Estee Lauder Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $90.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. HSBC upgraded Estee Lauder Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on Estee Lauder Companies from $63.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Estee Lauder Companies from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estee Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $87.80.

Estee Lauder Companies Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE EL traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $87.29. The company had a trading volume of 966,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,120,426. The company has a market capitalization of $31.42 billion, a PE ratio of -27.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $48.37 and a one year high of $103.44.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. Estee Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 12.37% and a negative net margin of 7.91%.The company had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Estee Lauder Companies's revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Estee Lauder Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-2.100 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estee Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Estee Lauder Companies's payout ratio is -44.59%.

Insider Activity at Estee Lauder Companies

In other Estee Lauder Companies news, VP Lande Rashida La sold 6,417 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.88, for a total transaction of $589,593.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,702 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.65, for a total transaction of $339,288.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,418,650.35. This trade represents a 19.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.78% of the company's stock.

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.