The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. lowered its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 93.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,708 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,812 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.'s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,626,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,692,479,000 after purchasing an additional 140,488 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,009,269 shares of the company's stock worth $1,739,070,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167,553 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company's stock worth $767,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387,271 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,129,962 shares of the company's stock worth $1,015,189,000 after acquiring an additional 77,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,739,004 shares of the company's stock worth $921,514,000 after acquiring an additional 224,451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:EL traded down $1.57 during trading on Monday, reaching $137.23. 1,778,036 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,677,537. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $146.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.08. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.22 and a 52-week high of $260.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $49.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.07.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is presently 203.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on EL. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. 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 target price on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $179.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $168.00.

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