The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Position Trimmed by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 50.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 844 shares of the company’s stock after selling 861 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $63,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EL. State Street Corp raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,314,000 after acquiring an additional 913,470 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised 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 worth $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,630,000 after purchasing an additional 954,493 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,587,000 after purchasing an additional 70,307 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in 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 worth $292,510,000 after buying an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 4.6 %

EL stock opened at $75.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $26.96 billion, a PE ratio of -38.51, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.77.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on EL. TD Cowen cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 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.