Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 141,467 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 30.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 316,492 shares of the company's stock after selling 141,467 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.09% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $23,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on EL. CICC Research initiated coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EL traded down $5.30 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $52.89. 10,908,398 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,910,387. The company has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $70.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.48 and a 52-week high of $149.91.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently -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.