Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Decreases Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank trimmed its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 33.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 100,643 shares of the company’s stock after selling 51,622 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $14,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $858,070,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,850,000 after buying an additional 1,512,982 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,730,000 after buying an additional 1,387,271 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,009,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,070,000 after buying an additional 1,167,553 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 132.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,735,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,901,000 after buying an additional 988,829 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 4.9 %

EL opened at $144.81 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $102.22 and a 12 month high of $260.46. 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 stock has a market cap of $51.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $146.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.07.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly 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. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 3.08%. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

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

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.