Rathbones Group PLC Sells 155,706 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Rathbones Group PLC lessened its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 948,774 shares of the company’s stock after selling 155,706 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $71,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EL. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays decreased 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $52.89 on Monday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.27. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $149.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a PE ratio of -27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. On average, research analysts expect 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.65%. 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.