FIL Ltd Reduces Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

FIL Ltd cut its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 682,193 shares of the company’s stock after selling 262,951 shares during the period. FIL Ltd owned approximately 0.19% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $51,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,229,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $403,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 123,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,353,000 after purchasing an additional 4,915 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,587,000 after purchasing an additional 70,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EL shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target 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. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. 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, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $56.13 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.25. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.37 and a 1 year high of $149.91. The company has a market capitalization of $20.15 billion, a PE ratio of -28.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently -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.