Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Reduces Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,510,184 shares of the company's stock after selling 213,562 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.53% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $413,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $251,304,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company's stock worth $250,704,000 after purchasing an additional 3,313,557 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,025,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,210 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 192.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 3,092,268 shares of the company's stock valued at $231,858,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,188 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings 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 worth $222,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330,840 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

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Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock traded down $0.84 on Monday, reaching $52.09. The company had a trading volume of 4,348,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,912,881. The firm has a market cap of $18.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. 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 firm's 50-day moving average price is $70.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.27. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.12 and a 1 year high of $149.91.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is -71.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on EL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate 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.