The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Purchased by Douglas Lane & Associates LLC

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 47.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 509,393 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 164,783 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $38,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 103,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,973,000 after buying an additional 2,118 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $1,827,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 78.7% during the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter valued at $656,000. Finally, LGT Group Foundation raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 82.5% in the second quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 37,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,022,000 after buying an additional 17,087 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL traded up $0.08 on Wednesday, hitting $74.25. 1,287,806 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,695,269. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $72.72 and its 200 day moving average is $87.30.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 250.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EL. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.