DnB Asset Management AS Sells 352,052 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

DnB Asset Management AS lessened its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 88.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,675 shares of the company’s stock after selling 352,052 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $3,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,025,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,210 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,314,000 after purchasing an additional 913,470 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,630,000 after buying an additional 954,493 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,587,000 after buying an additional 70,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $251,304,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $66.01 on Tuesday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.96. The firm has a market cap of $23.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $155.73.

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 business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Twenty equities research 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 an average 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.