Akhil Shrivastava Buys 700 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Stock

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of EL traded up $0.83 on Friday, reaching $65.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,662,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,464,049. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $159.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $76.86 and a 200-day moving average of $83.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.36 billion, a PE ratio of 116.23, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.03.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.5 EPS 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 $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 250.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AGF Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Markel Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 96,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,226,000 after acquiring an additional 29,202 shares during the period. Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,162,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 30,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,314,000 after acquiring an additional 2,488 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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.