Swiss National Bank Sells 32,200 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 659,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.18% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $49,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Wealth Services grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 1,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $66.64 on Monday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $155.73. The stock has a market cap of $23.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.17, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.65.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 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 directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on EL shares. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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.