Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 92,129 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 47.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,827 shares of the company's stock after selling 92,129 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $7,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,078,406,000 after purchasing an additional 8,930,011 shares during the period. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $554,509,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $251,304,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company's stock worth $250,704,000 after acquiring an additional 3,313,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 148.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $410,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,278,632 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EL shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $67.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $81.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE EL traded up $0.76 during trading on Friday, hitting $59.41. 2,585,724 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,071,894. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.47, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37. The business has a 50 day moving average of $63.85 and a 200-day moving average of $72.01. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.37 and a 12-month high of $149.06.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. Estée Lauder Companies's revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -71.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the purchase, the director now 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. 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.