Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 10.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 29,201 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,659 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $3,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,188,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,555 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $518,975,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,163,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,612,000 after buying an additional 140,416 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 12.0% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,962,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,262,000 after buying an additional 318,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $291,171,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $131.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. B. Riley started coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $129.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

EL opened at $84.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $95.04 and its 200 day moving average is $120.71. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.39 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 148.31%.

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