River Global Investors LLP Reduces Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

River Global Investors LLP reduced its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 24.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,019 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,646 shares during the period. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,599,000. AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 8,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $847,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Rovin Capital UT ADV boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 49.5% in the third quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 6,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 2,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,396,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % 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 Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $73.32 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.61. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $159.54. The firm has a market cap of $26.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -71.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. CICC Research initiated coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

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.