Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Sells 1,593,675 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich decreased its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 97.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,796 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,593,675 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $4,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EL. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 buying an additional 913,470 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake 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 worth $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company's stock worth $374,630,000 after buying an additional 954,493 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company's stock worth $464,587,000 after buying an additional 70,307 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company's stock worth $222,807,000 after buying an additional 1,330,840 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.00.

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Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $73.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.53. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.54. The company has a market capitalization of $26.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.

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