Parallel Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Parallel Advisors LLC reduced its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 36.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,130 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,355 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% during the 4th 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. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 695.4% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,123,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,994,000 after purchasing an additional 982,183 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% during the 4th 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. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the 3rd 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. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, 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 the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought 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 directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on EL shares. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on 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. UBS Group increased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL opened at $67.04 on Friday. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $155.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.38, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $72.97 and a 200 day moving average of $77.91.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

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.