Employees Retirement System of Texas Buys New Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,350,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Peterson Wealth Services grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 1,506 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,853 shares of the company's stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $84.67.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 3.5 %

NYSE EL traded up $1.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $55.19. 4,457,729 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,007,124. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.37 and a 52 week high of $149.91. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $66.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.73. The company has a market cap of $19.81 billion, a PE ratio of -28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Insider Activity

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company's stock.

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