The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Hills Bank & Trust Co

Hills Bank & Trust Co lowered its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 80.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,740 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,997 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $401,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company's stock valued at $537,850,000 after buying an additional 1,512,982 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,387,271 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake 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 worth $250,901,000 after purchasing an additional 988,829 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $95,085,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter valued at about $69,047,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EL. Bernstein Bank upped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $160.92.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.6 %

Estée Lauder Companies stock traded up $2.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $131.66. The stock had a trading volume of 1,516,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,799,584. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.20 billion, a PE ratio of 73.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $144.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.97. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.22 and a twelve month high of $204.41.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 4.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. Analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business 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 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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