Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $413.15 Million Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,510,184 shares of the company’s stock after selling 213,562 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.53% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $413,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,796,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,515,000 after acquiring an additional 117,163 shares during the period. National Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $464,000. Rodgers Brothers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 55,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 10,879 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth $27,140,000. Finally, Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $513,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $68.68 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $71.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.78. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $152.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $24.65 billion, a PE ratio of -35.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

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.