Wellington Management Group LLP Trims Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 19.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,569,262 shares of the company’s stock after selling 602,179 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.72% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $192,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EL. Peterson Wealth Services boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 1,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value 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. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 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, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL opened at $68.68 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.22, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. 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 quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $71.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.78.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Estée Lauder Companies 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, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.