387,800 Shares in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Purchased by Continental Grain Co.

Continental Grain Co. acquired a new stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 387,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,077,000. Estée Lauder Companies accounts for about 9.9% of Continental Grain Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Continental Grain Co. owned approximately 0.11% of Estée Lauder Companies at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company's stock worth $2,025,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,210 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 163.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company's stock worth $1,078,406,000 after acquiring an additional 8,930,011 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 7,858,158 shares of the company's stock worth $589,205,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458,379 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 148.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $410,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,278,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company's stock worth $374,630,000 after purchasing an additional 954,493 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Nineteen 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $81.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:EL traded up $1.47 on Wednesday, reaching $57.41. The company had a trading volume of 1,833,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,055,305. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.61. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.37 and a twelve month high of $149.91.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -71.79%.

About Estée Lauder Companies

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.