Krane Funds Advisors LLC Makes New $296,000 Investment in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,078,406,000 after purchasing an additional 8,930,011 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $251,304,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,704,000 after acquiring an additional 3,313,557 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 148.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,278,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,025,532,000 after acquiring an additional 2,344,210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

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

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL opened at $52.89 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.27. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $149.91. 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 company has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10.

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 $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EL. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

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.