Wells Fargo & Company MN Has $91.66 Million Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Wells Fargo & Company MN decreased its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 626,753 shares of the company’s stock after selling 55,280 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.18% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $91,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $518,975,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $537,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,982 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $767,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,271 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 132.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,735,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,901,000 after purchasing an additional 988,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $95,085,000. 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 Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total value of $1,967,134.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 47,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,412,971.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total value of $1,967,134.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 47,248 shares in the company, valued at $6,412,971.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Peter Jueptner sold 12,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.62, for a total transaction of $1,670,107.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $728,598.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.92.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 3.5 %

EL opened at $126.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $45.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.45. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.22 and a fifty-two week high of $204.41.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.49. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently 148.32%.

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