Meridian Wealth Management LLC Sells 203 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,878 shares of the company’s stock after selling 203 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EL. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,599,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 19.2% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 63,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,303,000 after purchasing an additional 10,165 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.3% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 89,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,918,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 14.5% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,597,000 after purchasing an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired 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 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of 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. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $71.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.65, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $74.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.83. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.54.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

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.