Barclays Cuts Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Price Target to $117.00

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) had its price target lowered by Barclays from $136.00 to $117.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

EL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com raised Estée Lauder Companies from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut Estée Lauder Companies from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $149.63.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE EL opened at $99.18 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $132.76. Estée Lauder Companies has a twelve month low of $95.87 and a twelve month high of $186.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $35.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.72, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.99.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.32%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $728,598.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $728,598.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 47,248 shares in the company, valued at $6,412,971.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,255 shares of company stock valued at $5,453,232. 12.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth $518,975,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 1st quarter worth $291,171,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,188,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,555 shares in the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,908.0% in the 4th quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 1,195,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,022,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $442,087,000 after purchasing an additional 742,449 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.