Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 277 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Hartford Investment Management Co. decreased its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 277 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 278.2% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 658 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Services lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 1,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $33,943,000. Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $1,385,000. Finally, Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 308.0% in the 4th quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 38,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,903,000 after buying an additional 29,224 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 119,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,801,318 in the last ninety days. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL stock opened at $68.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.16. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.54.

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 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%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -71.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on EL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.