New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $48.40 Million Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 330,915 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,311 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $48,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 60.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 324 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $141.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned 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 price target of $168.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 1.1 %

EL stock opened at $147.36 on Thursday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.22 and a 52 week high of $253.24. The company has a market capitalization of $52.82 billion, a PE ratio of 113.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.33. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 203.08%.

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.