S&CO Inc. Has $4.16 Million Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

S&CO Inc. cut its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,424 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,265 shares during the quarter. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $4,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after acquiring an additional 913,470 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,630,000 after acquiring an additional 954,493 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,587,000 after acquiring an additional 70,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,330,840 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on EL shares. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. CICC Research began coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought 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 $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $72.00 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $74.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.39. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.54. The firm has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.92, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is -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.