The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. reduced its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,570 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,468 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $6,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,242.4% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 3,106 shares during the period. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,153,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 91,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,838,000 after purchasing an additional 4,690 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 1,538,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,322,000 after purchasing an additional 30,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 6,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. B. Riley reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % 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 Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $68.80 on Monday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $159.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $24.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $75.85 and its 200-day moving average is $81.82.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -71.79%.

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.