Freemont Management S.A. Sells 40,000 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Freemont Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 82.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,000 shares during the quarter. Freemont Management S.A.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 97.8% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 160,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,985,000 after purchasing an additional 79,278 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 9,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $932,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 38,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 2,299 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 7.5% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter valued at $203,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EL. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 3.7 %

NYSE:EL opened at $68.97 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.49. The company has a market cap of $24.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $155.73.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

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

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.