Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Cuts Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,510,000 after buying an additional 1,310,900 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after buying an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 695.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,123,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,994,000 after buying an additional 982,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1,127.5% in the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,059,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,580,000 after buying an additional 972,799 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,583,580. The trade was 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.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE EL opened at $68.80 on Tuesday. 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 $24.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $75.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on EL shares. B. Riley cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

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.