National Pension Service Sells 391,055 Shares of The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. $EL

Key Points

• The National Pension Service has drastically reduced its stake in The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. by 99.8%, selling 391,055 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with only 891 shares valued at approximately $59,000.
• Institutional investor activity remains strong, with several firms increasing their positions, including Invesco Ltd., which boosted its stake by 21.9% to own 6.68 million shares valued at about $441 million.
• The current stock price of Estee Lauder is around $90.87, with analysts providing a range of ratings, leading to an average price target of $85.80 and an overall rating of "Hold".

National Pension Service lessened its stake in shares of The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 99.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 891 shares of the company's stock after selling 391,055 shares during the period. National Pension Service's holdings in Estee Lauder Companies were worth $59,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 5.4% during the 4th 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. lifted its position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 442.5% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 57.3% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 626 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 70.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,753 shares of the company's stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,620 shares of the company's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on EL shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. HSBC raised shares of Estee Lauder Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $80.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $60.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $92.00) on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $62.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Estee Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.95.

Estee Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EL traded down $0.6240 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $90.1160. 6,165,050 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,784,863. 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 company has a market cap of $32.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.24, a PEG ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 1.18. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $85.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.96. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.37 and a twelve month high of $103.44.

Estee 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.