Edgewood Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Edgewood Management LLC trimmed its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased 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 during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on EL shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Twenty equities research 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, Estée Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Insider Activity

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased 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 in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 9.1 %

Shares of EL opened at $52.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $51.48 and a one year high of $149.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.35. The company has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The company 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%. The business’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.