Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Increases Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,606 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,220 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $8,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,792 shares of the company's stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 274.5% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 178,052 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,893,000 after purchasing an additional 130,504 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 3,466 shares of the company's stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth $296,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 148.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company's stock worth $410,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,278,632 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL stock traded up $1.71 on Friday, reaching $54.37. The stock had a trading volume of 6,344,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,048,212. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.37 and a 1 year high of $149.91. The stock has a market cap of $19.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.34.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -71.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $81.57.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,583,580. This represents 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.

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.