Arizona State Retirement System Sells 2,518 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,302 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,518 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $4,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after buying an additional 913,470 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,630,000 after buying an additional 954,493 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,587,000 after buying an additional 70,307 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,807,000 after buying an additional 1,330,840 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 2.5 %

NYSE EL opened at $73.32 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $74.16 and its 200 day moving average is $79.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 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 stock has a market cap of $26.32 billion, a PE ratio of -37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -71.79%.

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.