Natixis Sells 253,011 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Natixis trimmed its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 36.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 446,123 shares of the company’s stock after selling 253,011 shares during the quarter. Natixis’ holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $33,450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 163.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,078,406,000 after purchasing an additional 8,930,011 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $554,509,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $251,304,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,704,000 after acquiring an additional 3,313,557 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 148.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,278,632 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 3.2 %

EL stock opened at $54.37 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.37 and a 1-year high of $149.91. The stock has a market cap of $19.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $65.10 and its 200 day moving average is $73.34.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -71.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. CICC Research began coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.57.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired 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 in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 owned by insiders.

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.