The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Director Lynn Forester Sells 3,890 Shares

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,714.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $94.50. 3,016,328 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,073,947. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $100.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.51. The company has a market cap of $33.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.09, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.99. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $86.05 and a twelve month high of $165.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.39. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.07 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.31%.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EL. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 182,255 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,392,000 after buying an additional 26,947 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 24.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,051 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,304,000 after purchasing an additional 6,102 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth $32,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd now owns 40,163 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,273,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ecofi Investissements SA bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $140.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com raised Estée Lauder Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $136.00 to $117.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $122.77.

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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.