Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. Has $266,000 Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,545 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $570,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310,900 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,938,000 after buying an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 695.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,123,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,994,000 after acquiring an additional 982,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1,127.5% in the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,059,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,580,000 after purchasing an additional 972,799 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EL. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. CICC Research initiated coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. 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.com, Estée Lauder Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $68.80 on Tuesday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $75.85 and its 200 day moving average is $81.69. The stock has a market cap of $24.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.28, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly 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. Company 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.