MU Investments Co. Ltd. Sells 100 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

MU Investments Co. Ltd. decreased its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,610 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Estée Lauder Companies accounts for about 3.1% of MU Investments Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. MU Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EL. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,009,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,739,070,000 after buying an additional 1,167,553 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,237,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,044,492,000 after buying an additional 172,821 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.9% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,129,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,015,189,000 after buying an additional 77,961 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,739,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $921,514,000 after buying an additional 224,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $858,070,000. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Estée Lauder Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $230.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Berenberg Bank reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $243.00 to $224.00 in a report on Thursday, September 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 25th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Estée Lauder Companies from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.07.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL traded down $3.77 on Tuesday, reaching $150.43. 622,852 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,081,969. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $168.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $200.84. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.18 and a fifty-two week high of $283.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.81 billion, a PE ratio of 55.47, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.03.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 18th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.48 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 6.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 31st were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 30th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.93, for a total transaction of $272,866.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 48,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,421,020.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 12,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.75, for a total transaction of $1,933,967.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,800 shares in the company, valued at $8,523,450. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.93, for a total value of $272,866.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 48,845 shares in the company, valued at $7,421,020.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.