The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Bought by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 50.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,499 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,852 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,392,000 after buying an additional 45,687 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 3,524 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% in the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 41,773 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.3 %

EL opened at $65.09 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.36 billion, a PE ratio of -33.38, a P/E/G ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $76.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.89.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -71.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on EL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. CICC Research assumed coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. HSBC downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Twenty investment 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 234,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the business’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 directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 196,700 shares of company stock worth $12,762,093 over the last three months. 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.