Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Given New $79.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) had its price target upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $74.00 to $79.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 5.94% from the company’s previous close.

EL has been the topic of several other research reports. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.73.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 0.9 %

EL stock opened at $74.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $26.77 billion, a PE ratio of 133.16, a P/E/G ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 1.02. 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’s fifty day moving average is $73.02 and its 200 day moving average is $85.96. Estée Lauder Companies has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the business’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 value of $743,259.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 77,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This trade represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EL. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in 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 during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310,900 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% in the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,320 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.