The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund trimmed its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 47,132 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,900 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $3,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 3,524 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,735,000 after buying an additional 41,773 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on 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. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

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

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

EL opened at $74.69 on Wednesday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $159.54. The business has a 50 day moving average of $74.67 and a 200-day moving average of $80.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.30, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -71.79%.

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.