Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Cuts Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund decreased its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 99.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 444 shares of the company’s stock after selling 297,667 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $68,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EL. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.8% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 103,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,951,000 after buying an additional 33,459 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $239,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 66,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,319,000 after purchasing an additional 17,005 shares in the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter worth $274,000. Finally, Mirova boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 0.9% during the first quarter. Mirova now owns 30,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,748,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $100.71 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $112.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.99. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $95.87 and a 12-month high of $183.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 148.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, insider Peter Jueptner sold 12,786 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.62, for a total value of $1,670,107.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $728,598.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Peter Jueptner sold 12,786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.62, for a total value of $1,670,107.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $728,598.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total transaction of $1,967,134.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 47,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,412,971.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,255 shares of company stock valued at $5,453,232 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on EL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $160.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Bernstein Bank increased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $163.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.63.

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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.