California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 10,298 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 349,842 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,298 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $51,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of EL. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $963,000. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EL shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.17.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.6 %

EL opened at $144.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $146.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.21. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.22 and a twelve month high of $250.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.51, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 203.08%.

Estée Lauder Companies 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.