Handelsbanken Fonder AB Lowers Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 29.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 181,385 shares of the company’s stock after selling 75,113 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.05% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $26,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EL. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $537,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,982 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $767,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387,271 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 132.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,735,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,901,000 after acquiring an additional 988,829 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $95,085,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter valued at about $69,047,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE EL opened at $147.42 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $146.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.07. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $102.22 and a one year high of $255.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $52.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.07.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.33. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 3.08%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 203.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EL has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $141.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.00.

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