Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Sells 75,632 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. lessened its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 31.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 168,598 shares of the company’s stock after selling 75,632 shares during the quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $12,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 2,344,210 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 163.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,078,406,000 after buying an additional 8,930,011 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 7,858,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $589,205,000 after buying an additional 2,458,379 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $554,509,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 148.9% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the acquisition, 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. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on 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. Citigroup cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE EL opened at $54.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.37 and a fifty-two week high of $149.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

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