Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Sells 7,024 Shares of The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich reduced its stake in The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,772 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,024 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in Estee Lauder Companies were worth $2,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,025,532,000 after buying an additional 2,344,210 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Estee Lauder Companies by 163.8% in the 4th 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. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 7,858,158 shares of the company's stock valued at $589,205,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458,379 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Estee Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth $554,509,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 148.9% in the fourth 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. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on EL. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Estee Lauder Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Estee Lauder Companies from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $101.00 in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $67.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Estee Lauder Companies from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $84.50.

Estee Lauder Companies Stock Up 4.1%

Shares of EL traded up $3.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $90.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,609,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,914,970. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.37 and a 1 year high of $103.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $32.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a fifty day moving average of $77.23 and a 200 day moving average of $70.49.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.36. Estee Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 15.60% and a negative net margin of 5.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estee Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Estee Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently -57.85%.

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.