Investors Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL)

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 16,632 put options on the company. This is an increase of 80% compared to the average volume of 9,232 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $169.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bernstein Bank lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total transaction of $1,815,989.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,958,990.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total transaction of $1,815,989.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,958,990.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total transaction of $1,967,134.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 47,248 shares in the company, valued at $6,412,971.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,255 shares of company stock valued at $5,453,232 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $3,188,832,000 after buying an additional 1,250,555 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,483,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,085,000 after purchasing an additional 254,198 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,151,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $607,169,000 after purchasing an additional 496,308 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $518,975,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,163,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,612,000 after purchasing an additional 140,416 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $106.44 on Thursday. Estée Lauder Companies has a 52-week low of $102.22 and a 52-week high of $198.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $125.03 and a 200 day moving average of $136.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $38.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.32%.

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