Venturi Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 1,610.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,368 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced 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 research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL opened at $71.71 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The business’s 50 day moving average is $74.83 and its 200-day moving average is $80.89. The stock has a market cap of $25.74 billion, a PE ratio of -36.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $159.54.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.