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

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EL traded up $2.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.80. 6,673,154 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,568,599. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.54. The company has a market cap of $25.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.31, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.56.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm 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 business's revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on EL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.