Axa S.A. Grows Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Axa S.A. raised its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 594,870 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,894 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $63,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 113.7% in the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 156,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,900,000 after acquiring an additional 83,320 shares during the period. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $997,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $558,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth $6,043,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings 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 worth $82,804,000 after purchasing an additional 550,355 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $91.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $32.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.47, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.39 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $92.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.92.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.80 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. Analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EL shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $136.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Raymond James cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at $4,578,114. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,714.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the 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 transaction, 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.

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.