California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 349,842 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,298 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.10% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $51,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EL. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 280 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 277 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup raised shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $168.17.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of EL stock traded up $2.46 on Friday, hitting $147.45. 2,428,532 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,645,876. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $146.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.25. 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 capitalization of $52.86 billion, a PE ratio of 113.42, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.07. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.22 and a twelve month high of $250.63.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 203.08%.

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.