State of Alaska Department of Revenue Has $4.32 Million Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lowered its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,021 shares of the company’s stock after selling 680 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $4,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,435,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,842,514,000 after acquiring an additional 809,370 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,483,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,085,000 after purchasing an additional 254,198 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,151,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $607,169,000 after purchasing an additional 496,308 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $518,975,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,022,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,087,000 after purchasing an additional 742,449 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total value of $1,967,134.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 47,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,412,971.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Peter Jueptner sold 12,786 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.62, for a total transaction of $1,670,107.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $728,598.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total transaction of $1,967,134.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 47,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,412,971.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,255 shares of company stock worth $5,453,232. 12.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $106.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $38.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.80, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.99. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $102.22 and a one year high of $198.86. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $124.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders 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 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 148.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on EL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $169.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.75.

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.