First Hawaiian Bank Buys Shares of 7,000 The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $525,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.8% during the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 509,393 shares of the company's stock worth $38,194,000 after purchasing an additional 164,783 shares during the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 26,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,951,000 after purchasing an additional 8,070 shares during the period. Centre Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth $8,585,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 57.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,002,000. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on EL shares. B. Riley cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. CICC Research began coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $96.50.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.47. 4,701,035 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,212,266. The company has a market cap of $26.37 billion, a PE ratio of 131.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.69 and a 200-day moving average of $86.63. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies's quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is 250.00%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 310,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.