King Luther Capital Management Corp Has $4.28 Million Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

King Luther Capital Management Corp cut its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 56.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,127 shares of the company’s stock after selling 73,150 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $4,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $1,599,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 23.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 34,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,421,000 after purchasing an additional 6,569 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $1,184,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of EL stock opened at $66.53 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $73.84 and a 200-day moving average of $79.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.54. The company has a market capitalization of $23.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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