WASHINGTON TRUST Co Sells 66,542 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co decreased its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 50.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,393 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,542 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $9,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,626,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,692,479,000 after buying an additional 140,488 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,019,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,967,607,000 after acquiring an additional 184,641 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,009,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,070,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167,553 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387,271 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,867,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $955,912,000 after purchasing an additional 146,006 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

NYSE EL traded up $3.94 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $143.25. The stock had a trading volume of 820,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,760,941. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.15, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.07. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.22 and a twelve month high of $260.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $142.27 and its 200 day moving average is $138.41.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.19 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 3.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 203.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on EL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $146.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $179.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.71.

Estée Lauder Companies 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.