The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lowered its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 61.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 167,030 shares of the company's stock after selling 266,821 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $24,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth $858,070,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company's stock valued at $537,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,982 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company's stock worth $767,730,000 after buying an additional 1,387,271 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,009,269 shares of the company's stock worth $1,739,070,000 after buying an additional 1,167,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 132.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,735,740 shares of the company's stock valued at $250,901,000 after buying an additional 988,829 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 0.7 %

EL traded up $1.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $145.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,679,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,752,614. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $52.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50 day moving average is $145.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.08. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $102.22 and a one year high of $260.46.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies's quarterly revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is currently 203.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $166.46.

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.