Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $11.12 Million Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 148,259 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,295 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $11,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EL. Peterson Wealth Services increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 1,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Biltmore Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 7.8% in the third quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 2,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value 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. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Twenty 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, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL opened at $71.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $25.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.77, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $74.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.96. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $159.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently -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.