Fifth Third Bancorp Cuts Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 43.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,127 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,163 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 752.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 580 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 77,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of EL stock traded down $0.65 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $82.33. 3,072,568 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,211,393. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $159.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 147.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.02. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $76.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. Estée Lauder Companies's revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EL has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective 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. Piper Sandler boosted their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced 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. Twenty equities 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, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.68.

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.