The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Short Interest Up 7.1% in January

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,590,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the December 31st total of 8,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,570,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 77,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 234,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This trade represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,392,000 after purchasing an additional 45,687 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 41,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on EL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Twenty equities 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.95.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Estée Lauder Companies stock traded down $14.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $68.39. The stock had a trading volume of 9,580,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,508,895. Estée Lauder Companies has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75. The company has a market cap of $24.55 billion, a PE ratio of 123.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $77.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.31. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Estée Lauder Companies

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.