Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 836,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,752,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.23% of Estée Lauder Companies as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after purchasing an additional 913,470 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,630,000 after purchasing an additional 954,493 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,587,000 after purchasing an additional 70,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330,840 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $72.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.92, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.39.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. On average, analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

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.