Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 517,777 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,559 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $38,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 752.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EL. 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. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 196,700 shares of company stock valued at $12,762,093. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $68.74 on Tuesday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.54. The stock has a market cap of $24.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $76.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

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

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.