Insider Buying: The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Director Purchases 77,500 Shares of Stock

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 77,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 234,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL traded up $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $64.59. 1,782,940 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,453,304. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.21 and a 200 day moving average of $99.84. The stock has a market cap of $23.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.34, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.05.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 471.43%.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. PARK CIRCLE Co bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $113.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America reduced 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. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.90.

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.