Bard Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 45.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,020 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,070 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after purchasing an additional 913,470 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company's stock worth $464,587,000 after buying an additional 70,307 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company's stock worth $402,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078,926 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% during the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company's stock valued at $368,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,320 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies
In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 77,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
EL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Monday, December 23rd. HSBC cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, CICC Research started coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, December 27th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $96.41.
Get Our Latest Report on EL
Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance
Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock traded up $1.37 on Monday, hitting $73.53. 3,308,130 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,064,349. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $159.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $73.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.58.
Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is presently 250.00%.
About Estée Lauder Companies
(
Free Report)
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.
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