Capital International Sarl Invests $543,000 in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Capital International Sarl acquired a new stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EL. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,392,000 after purchasing an additional 45,687 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares in the last quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $352,000. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 91,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,838,000 after buying an additional 4,690 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on EL. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. CICC Research started coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL stock opened at $54.37 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.37 and a 1 year high of $149.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.52 billion, a PE ratio of -27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $65.10 and its 200-day moving average is $73.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

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.