18,000 Shares in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Acquired by Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 18,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,350,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Centre Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,392,000 after purchasing an additional 45,687 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $352,000. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 91,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,838,000 after purchasing an additional 4,690 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL stock opened at $52.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $70.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.35. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.48 and a 12-month high of $149.91.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly 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 positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The company 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. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -71.79%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. The trade was 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 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.