The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Holdings Cut by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV reduced its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 71.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,227 shares of the company’s stock after selling 182,537 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $5,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EL. State Street Corp grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after purchasing an additional 913,470 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,587,000 after buying an additional 70,307 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.95.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of EL stock opened at $85.44 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.18. The stock has a market cap of $30.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 152.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.02.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. Analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,010,345. The trade was a 49.36 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

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.