Estée Lauder Companies Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:EL)

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 57,215 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 238% compared to the typical volume of 16,906 call options.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EL traded down $12.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $70.37. 11,909,412 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,644,447. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 125.39, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32. Estée Lauder Companies has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.75.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,314,000 after purchasing an additional 913,470 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,630,000 after buying an additional 954,493 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,587,000 after acquiring an additional 70,307 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310,900 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EL. Piper Sandler boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday. B. Riley reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.95.

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.