Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 35,196 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 548,630 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,196 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $80,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,048,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 613.2% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 20,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,952,000 after acquiring an additional 17,353 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. YCG LLC increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. YCG LLC now owns 178,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,068,000 after acquiring an additional 9,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarius Group LLC increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 2,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EL shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $141.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $146.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $179.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:EL opened at $138.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $146.48 and a 200-day moving average of $138.03. The company has a market cap of $49.49 billion, a PE ratio of 106.21, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.07. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $102.22 and a one year high of $260.46.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.33. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 203.08%.

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