Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 589 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 7.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,687 shares of the company’s stock after selling 589 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 8.3% during the first quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 34.1% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 295 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 16,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.3% during the first quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 3,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 25.6% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total transaction of $1,815,989.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,958,990.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total transaction of $1,815,989.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,958,990.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 47,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,412,971.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,255 shares of company stock worth $5,453,232. 12.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EL shares. StockNews.com upgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $160.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $163.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.87.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE EL traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $99.84. The stock had a trading volume of 655,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,815,005. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $95.87 and a 52-week high of $183.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $112.59 and a 200 day moving average of $131.44. The stock has a market cap of $35.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.99.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

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

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.