Grove Bank & Trust Buys 7,642 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 19,105.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,682 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,642 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 2,607 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $1,608,000. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 136,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,240,000 after acquiring an additional 19,017 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 449.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 404,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,308,000 after purchasing an additional 330,709 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 77,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction of $4,960,775.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $77.86 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average of $73.76 and a 200-day moving average of $85.50. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 250.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.55.

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.