The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. $EL Stock: North Dakota State Investment Board Decreases Holdings

North Dakota State Investment Board cut its holdings in shares of The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 78.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,557 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,688 shares during the period. North Dakota State Investment Board’s holdings in Estee Lauder Companies were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EL. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 24.9% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,137,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,826,000 after purchasing an additional 226,888 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,750,000. S&CO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,586,000. SummitTX Capital L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,608,000. Finally, Cacti Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 75.5% in the third quarter. Cacti Asset Management LLC now owns 230,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,750,000 after purchasing an additional 99,142 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $111.00 target price on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Estee Lauder Companies from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $85.00) on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Estee Lauder Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg sold 58,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.17, for a total transaction of $5,693,860.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 417,300 shares in the company, valued at $40,966,341. This trade represents a 12.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.82, for a total transaction of $373,045.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 50,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,036,954.22. This trade represents a 6.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 75,105 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,185. 11.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Estee Lauder Companies Price Performance

Estee Lauder Companies stock opened at $109.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.92. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.22 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $39.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 223.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 19th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Estee Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 23.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.09 earnings per share. Estee Lauder Companies has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.100-3.350 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Estee Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Estee Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 285.71%.

Estee Lauder Companies Company Profile

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE: EL) is a global prestige beauty company that develops, markets and sells skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair-care products. Its portfolio includes brands such as Estée Lauder, Clinique, M·A·C, La Mer, Jo Malone London, Aveda, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Tom Ford Beauty, Le Labo and The Ordinary.

Founded in 1946 by Estée and Joseph Lauder, the company began with four skincare products and has expanded into a multinational beauty business. Its products are sold through department and specialty stores, beauty retailers, brand-operated stores, e-commerce platforms, salons, spas and other distribution channels.

The Estée Lauder Companies serves consumers in markets across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.