Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 2,488 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,867 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,488 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after purchasing an additional 913,470 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,630,000 after purchasing an additional 954,493 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 70,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330,840 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on EL. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays decreased their price target on 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, CICC Research initiated coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 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 completion of the transaction, 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. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 2.7 %

EL stock opened at $66.64 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $155.73. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $73.54 and its 200-day moving average is $78.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a PE ratio of -34.17, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The business 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 quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -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.