Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Decreases Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lowered its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 3.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,790 shares of the company’s stock after selling 422 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EL. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 113.7% in the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 156,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,900,000 after acquiring an additional 83,320 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $997,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $558,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $6,043,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,477.8% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 566,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,804,000 after buying an additional 550,355 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on EL shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $131.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.27.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $91.61 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $92.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $32.86 billion, a PE ratio of 51.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.00. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.39 and a 1 year high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 2.50%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.32%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,578,114. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,714.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,578,114. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies 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.