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

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund 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 SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EL. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,807,000 after buying an additional 1,330,840 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in 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 period. 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 acquiring an additional 982,183 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 954,493 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL opened at $67.04 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $155.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $72.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.81. The company has a market capitalization of $24.07 billion, a PE ratio of -34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty 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, Estée Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by company 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.