Cacti Asset Management LLC Acquires 4,000 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Cacti Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 133.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Cacti Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 405,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,412,000 after purchasing an additional 10,129 shares in the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth $1,387,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 191.0% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 33,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,528,000 after acquiring an additional 22,127 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $10,634,000. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $1,735,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $67.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.20.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $66.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.28 and a 200-day moving average of $68.77. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.37 and a 52-week high of $125.90. The stock has a market cap of $23.85 billion, a PE ratio of -34.00, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.12.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The business’s revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -57.85%.

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, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.