202,550 Shares in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Purchased by Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 202,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,187,000. Estée Lauder Companies makes up 0.7% of Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations’ portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $602,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 115.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 147,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,674,000 after buying an additional 1,809 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 5,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 7.6% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 56,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,653,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

EL stock opened at $65.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $23.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $72.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.42. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $155.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on EL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

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, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.