Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 158,521 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 80.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 39,538 shares of the company’s stock after selling 158,521 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Centre Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 valued at $13,392,000 after acquiring an additional 45,687 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted 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 valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 3,524 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 41,773 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $352,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $67.04 on Monday. 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 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $155.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released 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 business 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 revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently -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.