The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 26.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,241 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,866 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of EL. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,314,000 after purchasing an additional 913,470 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings 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 worth $374,630,000 after buying an additional 954,493 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,587,000 after acquiring an additional 70,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $75.09 on Tuesday. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.51, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.77.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on EL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lowered their target price 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. B. Riley cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 currently owned by insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Company 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.