Bank of New York Mellon Corp Buys 1,330,840 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 81.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,330,840 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.83% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $222,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after buying an additional 913,470 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position 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 valued at $570,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,630,000 after acquiring an additional 954,493 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,587,000 after acquiring an additional 70,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $73.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $74.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.57. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $159.54. The firm has a market cap of $26.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. B. Riley decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 owned by corporate 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.