Navalign LLC Cuts Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Navalign LLC lessened its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,375 shares of the company’s stock after selling 445 shares during the period. Navalign LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EL. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 4,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 78.4% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 17,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,833,000 after purchasing an additional 7,797 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $1,147,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EL. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $179.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.63.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:EL traded up $9.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $154.09. The stock had a trading volume of 4,844,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,812,423. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.35. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.22 and a 52 week high of $260.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 203.08%.

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.