State of Michigan Retirement System Increases Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,838 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $9,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EL. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 103.1% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 277 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EL. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com raised Estée Lauder Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bernstein Bank lifted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $160.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.75.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EL traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $105.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,721,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,809,144. The company has a market cap of $37.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.22 and a 12-month high of $198.86. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 148.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total transaction of $1,967,134.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 47,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,412,971.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Peter Jueptner sold 12,786 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.62, for a total transaction of $1,670,107.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $728,598.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total value of $1,967,134.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 47,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,412,971.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,255 shares of company stock valued at $5,453,232. 12.77% 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.