Flossbach Von Storch AG Sells 27,342 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Flossbach Von Storch AG decreased its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 173,622 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,342 shares during the quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $25,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EL. United Bank grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 4,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 78.4% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 17,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,833,000 after acquiring an additional 7,797 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $1,147,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of EL traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $138.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,200,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,664,355. The company’s 50-day moving average is $146.48 and its 200-day moving average is $138.03. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.22 and a 52-week high of $260.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.21, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.33. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 203.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $146.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. 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 note on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $141.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.00.

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.