Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 21,596 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,161 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,596 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $9,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Centre Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,392,000 after purchasing an additional 45,687 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co boosted 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 purchasing an additional 41,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $352,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 currently owned by insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 2.3 %

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $65.42 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.55, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $155.73.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Estée Lauder Companies Company 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.