Bleakley Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 50.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,499 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,852 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EL. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 294.1% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 2,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 1,931.3% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 6,296 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 392.6% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 344,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,354,000 after purchasing an additional 117,447 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EL shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America cut their target price on 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. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 77,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director now owns 234,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,010,345. The trade was a 49.36 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired 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. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 196,700 shares of company stock valued at $12,762,093. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $65.09 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $76.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.89. The company has a market capitalization of $23.36 billion, a PE ratio of -33.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

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.