Schroder Investment Management Group Sells 888,956 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Schroder Investment Management Group lessened its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 89.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,865 shares of the company’s stock after selling 888,956 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $7,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on 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. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 9.1 %

Shares of EL opened at $52.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.48 and a 12 month high of $149.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $70.31 and its 200-day moving average is $76.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a PE ratio of -27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is -71.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.