Edgestream Partners L.P. Trims Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Edgestream Partners L.P. decreased its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 63.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,682 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,642 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EL. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter valued at $291,171,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,188,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,555 shares during the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 1,908.0% in the 4th quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 1,195,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,895,000 after buying an additional 1,136,201 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,477.8% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 566,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,804,000 after buying an additional 550,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the first quarter worth about $82,664,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EL. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $165.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $136.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.27.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,714.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,714.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $85.01 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.39 and a 12 month high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.48 billion, a PE ratio of 47.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $92.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.95.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 2.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.07 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 148.31%.

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