First Horizon Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,023 shares of the company’s stock after selling 424 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $77,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the 3rd 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. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position 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 worth $292,510,000 after buying an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position 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 worth $402,938,000 after buying an additional 1,078,926 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 695.4% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,123,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,994,000 after buying an additional 982,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,127.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,059,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,580,000 after buying an additional 972,799 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EL. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, B. Riley cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued 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.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $73.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.57. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.54. The stock has a market cap of $26.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.43, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at $156,645.99. The trade was 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 this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

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.