Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 12,273 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 39,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,273 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Wealth Services grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.8% during 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 last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in 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. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $55.19 on Friday. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.37 and a 12-month high of $149.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -71.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.67.

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.