LGT Group Foundation Decreases Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

LGT Group Foundation lowered its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,177 shares of the company’s stock after selling 295 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,314,000 after purchasing an additional 913,470 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,630,000 after buying an additional 954,493 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,587,000 after buying an additional 70,307 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,807,000 after buying an additional 1,330,840 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $70.18 on Tuesday. 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’s 50-day moving average is $74.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.13. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.54. The company has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a PE ratio of -35.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 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 company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -71.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EL. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. CICC Research began coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the purchase, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 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.