Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 55,302 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 37.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,957 shares of the company's stock after selling 55,302 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $6,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in 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 during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 278.2% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 658 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 41.0% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 787 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EL. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $67.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reduced their price target on 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. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price target (down previously from $70.00) on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $75.15.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Estée Lauder Companies stock traded down $2.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $67.23. 3,199,379 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,145,718. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.37 and a 1-year high of $115.82. The company has a market capitalization of $24.19 billion, a PE ratio of -34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a fifty day moving average of $61.43 and a 200 day moving average of $68.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Estée Lauder Companies's 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.