The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Bought by Mizuho Securities USA LLC

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 46.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,124 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,014 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EL. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,314,000 after buying an additional 913,470 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,630,000 after purchasing an additional 954,493 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $464,587,000 after purchasing an additional 70,307 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 2.0 %

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

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on EL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.