The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd

Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd cut its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 39.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 32,670 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,335 shares during the period. Estée Lauder Companies accounts for about 3.2% of Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EL. State Street Corp grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after acquiring an additional 913,470 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,630,000 after acquiring an additional 954,493 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,587,000 after acquiring an additional 70,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% in 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 last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE EL opened at $67.04 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $155.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $72.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.38, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.09%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on EL shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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.