Natixis Sells 253,011 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Natixis decreased its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 36.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 446,123 shares of the company’s stock after selling 253,011 shares during the quarter. Natixis owned about 0.12% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $33,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norinchukin Bank The increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 11,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 1,409 shares during the last quarter. Ossiam increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 81.5% during the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 32,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 14,573 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $443,000. Capital International Inc. CA bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $1,715,000. Finally, Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $554,509,000. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 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, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $54.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.52 billion, a PE ratio of -27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.37 and a twelve month high of $149.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.34.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -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.