First Western Trust Bank Reduces Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

First Western Trust Bank reduced its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 15.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,599 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,284 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 113.7% in the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 156,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,900,000 after buying an additional 83,320 shares during the period. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the first quarter valued at about $997,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter valued at about $558,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3,477.8% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 566,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,804,000 after purchasing an additional 550,355 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 367,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,608,000 after purchasing an additional 5,915 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $90.12 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $97.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.86. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.05 and a 52-week high of $160.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $32.31 billion, a PE ratio of 50.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.99.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.80 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 2.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on EL. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler raised shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value of $364,142.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,714.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value of $364,142.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,714.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total value of $315,963.41. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. 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.