SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC Sells 7,727 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 45.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,389 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,727 shares during the quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EL. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $95,085,000. Souders Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 15,431 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,257,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $408,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,689,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 8,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EL shares. Bank of America raised Estée Lauder Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $166.46.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL traded up $0.12 on Friday, hitting $144.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,428,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,297,438. The company has a market capitalization of $51.77 billion, a PE ratio of 111.10, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.22 and a fifty-two week high of $260.46. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $145.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.17.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.33. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies's revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is 203.08%.

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