The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Purchased by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 352,200 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,519 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.10% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $26,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,704,000 after buying an additional 3,313,557 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,025,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,210 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 192.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 3,092,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,858,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,188 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330,840 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,510,000 after buying an additional 1,310,900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL opened at $65.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.20. The firm has a market cap of $23.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $155.73.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -71.79%.

Estée Lauder Companies 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.