The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Investors Research Corp

Investors Research Corp trimmed its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,699 shares of the company’s stock after selling 325 shares during the quarter. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,392,000 after purchasing an additional 45,687 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,524 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. 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 worth $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 41,773 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. The trade was 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 insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $72.00 on Tuesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $25.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.92, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.39. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $159.54.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $4 billion during 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 revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 1.94%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -71.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on 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. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.