Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 34,559 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 517,777 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,559 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $38,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EL. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Biltmore Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 7.8% in the third quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 2,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cove Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 7.1% in the third quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on EL. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $68.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.25, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $159.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $76.72 and a 200 day moving average of $82.77.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm 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 company’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 196,700 shares of company stock valued at $12,762,093. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

About Estée Lauder Companies

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.