HighTower Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,143 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,066 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EL. Peterson Wealth Services grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 1,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on EL. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $67.04 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $24.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $155.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the business’s 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 acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

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.