3,351,612 Shares in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Purchased by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,351,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $251,304,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.93% of Estée Lauder Companies as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company's stock worth $13,392,000 after buying an additional 45,687 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company's stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 3,524 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,735,000 after buying an additional 41,773 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $352,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on EL shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, January 31st. Twenty 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 has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

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

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL traded down $9.72 on Thursday, hitting $59.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,958,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,836,258. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.25 and a 12 month high of $152.04. The firm has a market cap of $21.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $71.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.78.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

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.