CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 505 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 37.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 830 shares of the company’s stock after selling 505 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $62,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EL. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Biltmore Family Office LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 2,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cove Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 5.3 %

NYSE:EL opened at $65.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $23.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.49, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.03. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.52.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. HSBC cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.55.

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.