Sheets Smith Wealth Management Sells 900 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management lowered its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 23.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,917 shares of the company’s stock after selling 900 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% during 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. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 695.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,123,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,994,000 after purchasing an additional 982,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1,127.5% in the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,059,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,580,000 after purchasing an additional 972,799 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $79.75 on Thursday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.75. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $74.35 and a 200 day moving average of $84.96. The stock has a market cap of $28.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 142.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.02.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 250.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.68.

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.