The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC cut its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 948,774 shares of the company’s stock after selling 155,706 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC owned approximately 0.26% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $71,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 163.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,078,406,000 after buying an additional 8,930,011 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $251,304,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,704,000 after acquiring an additional 3,313,557 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 148.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,984,000 after buying an additional 3,278,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,025,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,210 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired 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.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL opened at $52.89 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.31 and a 200-day moving average of $76.27. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $149.91.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EL shares. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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.