Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 4,780 The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $358,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Centre Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% during 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 grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% during the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 41,773 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL stock traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $67.04. 5,872,794 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,741,756. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $155.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

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Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 previous year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on EL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. CICC Research began coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies 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.