Insider Buying: The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Director Buys 75,500 Shares of Stock

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 75,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $64.59. The company had a trading volume of 1,782,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,453,304. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $84.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.84. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.75. The company has a market capitalization of $23.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 471.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EL has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $113.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.90.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EL. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. PARK CIRCLE Co purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.