Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,014,303 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,344,210 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.08% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $2,025,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% in 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 period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

EL opened at $65.83 on Thursday. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $155.73. The business’s 50 day moving average is $72.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.42. The firm 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.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -71.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

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

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.