Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Grows Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 349.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,904 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 21,700 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EL. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. CICC Research initiated coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Twenty equities 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 company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

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

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL stock opened at $65.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $72.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.14. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $155.73. The company has a market capitalization of $23.48 billion, a PE ratio of -33.55, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The business’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -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.