Pitcairn Co. Lowers Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Pitcairn Co. reduced its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 35.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,069 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,320 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 12.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 7,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 130.4% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,000 after buying an additional 5,140 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $455,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 250.0% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 28,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,808,000 after acquiring an additional 20,116 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 9.1 %

EL opened at $52.89 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.48 and a 52 week high of $149.91. The stock has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a PE ratio of -27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $70.31 and a 200-day moving average of $76.35.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -71.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on EL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on 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. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction 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 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.

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.