The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Purchased by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 28.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,913 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,819 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $3,293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. 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 lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $67.04 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $155.73. 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 company has a market capitalization of $24.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.38, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average is $72.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.01.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % 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, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value 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 trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of 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, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

About Estée Lauder Companies

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.