The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Stock Holdings Decreased by Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC

Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 20.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,611 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,207 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during 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 buying an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000,000 after buying an additional 1,920,439 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,788,000 after buying an additional 1,066,320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. HSBC cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.55.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 0.3 %

EL stock opened at $77.86 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.75. The firm has a market cap of $27.95 billion, a PE ratio of 139.04, a P/E/G ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.00%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction of $4,960,775.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This trade represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.