ABC Arbitrage SA Purchases Shares of 15,372 The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,153,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company's stock worth $570,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company's stock worth $292,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company's stock worth $402,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,926 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 695.4% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,123,427 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,994,000 after purchasing an additional 982,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,127.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,059,080 shares of the company's stock worth $105,580,000 after buying an additional 972,799 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. The trade was 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 this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. This 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE EL traded down $0.84 on Wednesday, reaching $71.35. 3,935,911 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,467,634. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $75.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 1.03. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $159.54.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies's revenue 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -71.79%.

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.