Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 449.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 404,217 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 330,709 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.11% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $30,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EL. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Ecofi Investissements SA bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 752.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 580 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 75,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on EL. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. CICC Research began coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Twenty 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 presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.55.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EL traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $77.86. The stock had a trading volume of 2,948,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,191,698. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $73.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.75. The company has a market capitalization of $27.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.04, a PEG ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 1.02.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is 250.00%.

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.