Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 21,121 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 263,016 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,121 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.07% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $26,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EL. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,314,000 after acquiring an additional 913,470 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 70,307 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,938,000 after buying an additional 1,078,926 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,788,000 after buying an additional 1,066,320 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $75.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 134.07, a P/E/G ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on EL. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.57.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 77,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at $15,010,345. This trade represents a 49.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale 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.