Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 97.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,880 shares of the company’s stock after selling 341,737 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 30,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,314,000 after buying an additional 2,488 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 59,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,455,000 after purchasing an additional 9,745 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $487,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL stock opened at $66.53 on Thursday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $159.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.13.

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 firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought 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 $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on EL. Barclays dropped their price objective on 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. CICC Research assumed coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.