Ameriprise Financial Inc. Decreases Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 90.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146,060 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,456,903 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $10,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,078,406,000 after purchasing an additional 8,930,011 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $554,509,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $251,304,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,704,000 after acquiring an additional 3,313,557 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 148.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,278,632 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.20.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL opened at $65.35 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market cap of $23.51 billion, a PE ratio of -33.51, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.12. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.37 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.83.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.36. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently -57.85%.

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.