Signaturefd LLC Trims Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Signaturefd LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 28.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,238 shares of the company’s stock after selling 884 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EL. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,807,000 after buying an additional 1,330,840 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 695.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,123,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,994,000 after buying an additional 982,183 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,630,000 after buying an additional 954,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after buying an additional 913,470 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $67.04 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $155.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a market capitalization of $24.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $72.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.91.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

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.