The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Sandy Spring Bank

Sandy Spring Bank reduced its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 77.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,667 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,718 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on EL shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, January 31st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL opened at $67.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.07 billion, a PE ratio of -34.38, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $155.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $72.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Estée Lauder Companies 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.