Choreo LLC Increases Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Choreo LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 516.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,591 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,898 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company's stock worth $1,054,314,000 after buying an additional 913,470 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake 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 worth $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company's stock worth $402,938,000 after buying an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company's stock worth $292,510,000 after buying an additional 1,310,900 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of EL stock traded down $1.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $69.04. 4,258,458 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,557,608. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $159.54. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $24.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.41, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 49.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 196,700 shares of company stock worth $12,762,093. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EL. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on 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 dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.