The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Holdings Cut by Shelton Capital Management

Shelton Capital Management cut its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,527 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Shelton Capital Management’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EL. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 96,738.6% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 649,839,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,615,469,000 after purchasing an additional 649,168,383 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,009,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,739,070,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167,553 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,237,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,044,492,000 after acquiring an additional 172,821 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.9% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,129,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,015,189,000 after purchasing an additional 77,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 224,451 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $122.45 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $43.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.08. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $102.22 and a 12 month high of $283.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $134.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $165.28.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 13.93%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 30th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 29th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 173.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EL shares. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $270.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $185.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $200.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 1,796 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.93, for a total transaction of $272,866.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 48,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,421,020.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 12,661 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.75, for a total value of $1,933,967.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,800 shares in the company, valued at $8,523,450. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.93, for a total value of $272,866.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 48,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,421,020.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 12.77% 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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.