The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Edgewood Management LLC

Edgewood Management LLC lowered its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,450 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,908,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 12.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 48.5% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 7,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 130.4% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,000 after buying an additional 5,140 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $455,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 250.0% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 28,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,808,000 after acquiring an additional 20,116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on EL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 9.1 %

NYSE:EL opened at $52.89 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.48 and a 1-year high of $149.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $70.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.35.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted 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. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued 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 dividend yield of 2.65%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is -71.79%.

Estée Lauder Companies Company 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.