15,500 Shares in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Purchased by Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC

Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 15,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,162,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EL. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,314,000 after acquiring an additional 913,470 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,630,000 after purchasing an additional 954,493 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,807,000 after buying an additional 1,330,840 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.8 %

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $72.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.92, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $159.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $74.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.39.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

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.