KBC Group NV Sells 182,537 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

KBC Group NV decreased its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 71.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 71,227 shares of the company’s stock after selling 182,537 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $5,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EL. Centre Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,392,000 after acquiring an additional 45,687 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $771,000 after acquiring an additional 3,524 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% during the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 41,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew 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 valued at $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on EL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.95.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $85.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 152.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.75. The business’s 50 day moving average is $76.45 and its 200-day moving average is $84.18.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at $15,010,345. This trade represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Company 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.