Morgan Stanley Downgrades Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) to Equal Weight

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $140.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $164.00. Morgan Stanley's target price points to a potential upside of 5.30% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $160.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $169.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seventeen 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.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $160.92.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL traded down $1.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $132.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,791,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,798,211. Estée Lauder Companies has a one year low of $102.22 and a one year high of $209.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.66 billion, a PE ratio of 74.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50-day moving average is $146.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.23.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 4.18%. Estée Lauder Companies's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,262.5% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 269 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 222.8% during the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 14,080 shares of the company's stock worth $2,170,000 after buying an additional 9,718 shares during the last quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,210 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 9,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $772,000. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

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