The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Concentric Capital Strategies LP

Concentric Capital Strategies LP trimmed its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 64.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,851 shares of the company's stock after selling 26,909 shares during the quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company's stock worth $1,078,406,000 after buying an additional 8,930,011 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $554,509,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth $251,304,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company's stock worth $250,704,000 after acquiring an additional 3,313,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 148.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company's stock worth $410,984,000 after purchasing an additional 3,278,632 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EL shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. B. Riley reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down from $70.00) on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $61.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.20.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of EL stock opened at $59.32 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.12. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.37 and a 1 year high of $139.34. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $61.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.36. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The business's revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is -57.85%.

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, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.

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