The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Stake Trimmed by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE lowered its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,595 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,365 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $4,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Centre Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,392,000 after acquiring an additional 45,687 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 3,524 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% during the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 41,773 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. CICC Research initiated coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $71.91 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The business’s 50 day moving average is $74.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.89. The company has a market cap of $25.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.87, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.54.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect 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, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

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.