KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires Shares of 81,050 The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 81,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,077,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EL. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $602,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 37.8% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 1,974 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter valued at $307,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 115.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,859 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EL. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $66.07 on Wednesday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $155.73. The company has a market cap of $23.72 billion, a PE ratio of -33.88, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Estée Lauder Companies 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.