Sandy Spring Bank Decreases Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Sandy Spring Bank reduced its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 77.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,667 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,718 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,807,000 after buying an additional 1,330,840 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,510,000 after buying an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 695.4% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,123,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,994,000 after buying an additional 982,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,630,000 after buying an additional 954,493 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction 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 approximately $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

NYSE EL opened at $67.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $72.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.01. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $155.73. The company has a market cap of $24.07 billion, a PE ratio of -34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -71.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EL. CICC Research began coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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.