Savant Capital LLC Acquires New Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 18,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,385,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,392,000 after acquiring an additional 45,687 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 3,524 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company's stock worth $570,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% during the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company's stock worth $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 41,773 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of 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. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, December 27th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Twenty 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.00.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired 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 $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % 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 insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

NYSE:EL traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $68.80. 3,714,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,619,071. The business has a 50 day moving average of $75.85 and a 200 day moving average of $81.69. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-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 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $24.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $4 billion for 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%. Estée Lauder Companies's quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies's 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.