LGT Capital Partners LTD. Sells 281,952 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. lowered its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 91.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,840 shares of the company’s stock after selling 281,952 shares during the quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. CICC Research assumed coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays decreased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $73.32 on Friday. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $74.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.54.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the acquisition, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate 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.