Natixis Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 500,286 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,713 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.14% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $53,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,188,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,555 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,151,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,169,000 after buying an additional 496,308 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $518,975,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,163,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,612,000 after buying an additional 140,416 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 12.0% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,962,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,262,000 after buying an additional 318,257 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of EL stock opened at $91.66 on Monday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $86.05 and a 12-month high of $165.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $98.81 and its 200 day moving average is $124.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.99.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.39. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.32%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,714.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,714.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,578,114. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on EL. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $165.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.77.

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