The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 18.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,278 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,715 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $4,667,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,435,995 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,842,514,000 after purchasing an additional 809,370 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company's stock valued at $767,730,000 after buying an additional 1,387,271 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,483,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $648,085,000 after buying an additional 254,198 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,151,580 shares of the company's stock valued at $607,169,000 after buying an additional 496,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company's stock worth $537,850,000 after buying an additional 1,512,982 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bernstein Bank lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised Estée Lauder Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $160.92.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL stock traded down $2.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $132.94. The stock had a trading volume of 3,791,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,776,756. The firm has a market cap of $47.66 billion, a PE ratio of 74.69, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.07. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $145.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.58 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 $209.64.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is 148.31%.

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.

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