Natixis Cuts Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Natixis trimmed its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 36.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 446,123 shares of the company's stock after selling 253,011 shares during the quarter. Natixis owned approximately 0.12% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $33,450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 11,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,409 shares during the period. Ossiam lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 81.5% during the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 32,453 shares of the company's stock worth $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 14,573 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $443,000. Capital International Inc. CA bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth $1,715,000. Finally, Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $554,509,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EL. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $67.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $81.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL stock traded up $1.39 during trading on Thursday, reaching $58.65. 1,546,450 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,060,274. The firm's 50-day moving average is $64.30 and its 200 day moving average is $72.51. The company has a market capitalization of $21.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.07, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.37 and a 1 year high of $149.06. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 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 firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction 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 approximately $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % 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 insiders.

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.