ING Groep NV Decreases Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

ING Groep NV trimmed its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 90.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 29,710 shares of the company’s stock after selling 272,195 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of 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. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $71.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.77, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $74.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.96. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $159.54.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The business 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value 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 approximately $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

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.