The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB decreased its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,148,551 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,266 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.32% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $86,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 103,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,973,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth about $1,827,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 78.7% during the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the company's stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $656,000. Finally, LGT Group Foundation raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 82.5% during the 2nd quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 37,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,022,000 after acquiring an additional 17,087 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This trade represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $125.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $96.50.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EL traded down $0.42 on Wednesday, hitting $73.75. The company had a trading volume of 2,341,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,914,507. 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 company has a market cap of $26.47 billion, a PE ratio of 131.70, a PEG ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.02. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $159.75. The business has a 50 day moving average of $72.72 and a 200 day moving average of $87.30.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The company 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.