Versor Investments LP Decreases Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Versor Investments LP lessened its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 66.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,620 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,030 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the 3rd 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 grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,630,000 after purchasing an additional 954,493 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% during the third 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. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330,840 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, B. Riley cut their target price on 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $70.18 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $74.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.13. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $159.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $4 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -71.79%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 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.