Rathbones Group PLC Sells 155,706 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Rathbones Group PLC reduced its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 948,774 shares of the company's stock after selling 155,706 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC owned 0.26% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $71,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 430,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % 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 Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock traded up $1.89 on Friday, hitting $55.19. 4,457,729 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,007,124. The company has a fifty day moving average of $66.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.73. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $48.37 and a one year high of $149.91. The company has a market capitalization of $19.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies's quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is -71.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on EL. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $84.67.

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.