Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Shares Up 6% Following Analyst Upgrade

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) shares were up 6% on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $63.00 to $71.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Estée Lauder Companies traded as high as $79.00 and last traded at $79.00. Approximately 1,766,343 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 2,891,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.52.

EL has been the topic of several other research reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $125.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.55.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 77,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Ecofi Investissements SA bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $27.95 billion, a PE ratio of 139.04, a P/E/G ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. Estée Lauder Companies's revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 250.00%.

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.