Gotham Asset Management LLC Cuts Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Gotham Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 45.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 38,252 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,940 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on EL. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.20.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $63.63 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.12. The company has a market capitalization of $22.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.63, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.12. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.37 and a 1 year high of $139.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.