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

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,273 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,025,532,000 after acquiring an additional 2,344,210 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,078,406,000 after acquiring an additional 8,930,011 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 148.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,278,632 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,630,000 after purchasing an additional 954,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,796,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,515,000 after purchasing an additional 117,163 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the business’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 acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. CICC Research started coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.67.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 3.5 %

EL opened at $55.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.37 and a 1-year high of $149.91.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

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