Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $246,000 Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,285 shares of the company’s stock after selling 455 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth about $602,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 147,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 5,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 7.6% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 56,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,653,000 after purchasing an additional 4,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 12.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, CICC Research started coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 2.3 %

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $65.42 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $155.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.55, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -71.79%.

Insider Activity

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.