US Bancorp DE Lowers Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

US Bancorp DE reduced its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 28.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,595 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,365 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $4,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centre Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company's stock worth $13,392,000 after acquiring an additional 45,687 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company's stock worth $771,000 after acquiring an additional 3,524 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company's stock worth $570,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% during the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company's stock worth $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 41,773 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company's stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL stock traded up $1.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $73.32. The stock had a trading volume of 3,020,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,139,169. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.54. The company has a market cap of $26.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.61. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

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.