ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd grew its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 13.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 126,462 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,450 shares during the quarter. Estée Lauder Companies comprises about 1.0% of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $9,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EL. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position 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 valued at $570,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 695.4% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,123,427 shares of the company's stock worth $111,994,000 after buying an additional 982,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,127.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,059,080 shares of the company's stock worth $105,580,000 after buying an additional 972,799 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company's stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock traded up $0.37 on Friday, hitting $71.71. 3,560,084 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,364,164. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $75.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.19. The company has a market capitalization of $25.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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.