Ieq Capital LLC Trims Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Ieq Capital LLC reduced its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,228 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,577 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Centre Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,392,000 after buying an additional 45,687 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 3,524 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% during the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after buying an additional 41,773 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL stock opened at $74.69 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $74.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.30, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.54.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -71.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.