The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 12.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,962,985 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 318,257 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.83% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $315,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $518,975,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $291,171,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,188,832,000 after buying an additional 1,250,555 shares during the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,908.0% during the 4th quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 1,195,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,895,000 after buying an additional 1,136,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,022,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,087,000 after buying an additional 742,449 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $136.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $165.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Wednesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,423,714.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL stock traded up $1.74 on Friday, hitting $91.66. 2,653,517 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,954,609. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $32.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.99. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.05 and a 1-year high of $165.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $98.81 and a 200-day moving average of $124.19.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.39. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 148.32%.

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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.