JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Sells 48,052 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lowered its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 395,444 shares of the company’s stock after selling 48,052 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd owned about 0.11% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $29,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Peterson Wealth Services lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 1,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. B. Riley restated a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $70.00) on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.20.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of EL stock opened at $61.00 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.65. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.37 and a 12-month high of $139.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.36. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently -57.85%.

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.