Eagle Bay Advisors LLC Grows Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 297.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 401 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Centre Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth $8,585,000. Armistice Capital LLC grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% in the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 182,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,398,000 after acquiring an additional 96,239 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew 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 worth $13,392,000 after acquiring an additional 45,687 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 41,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised 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 purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. CICC Research began coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $113.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. HSBC cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:EL opened at $74.95 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.19. The stock has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 250.00%.

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.