VCI Wealth Management LLC Invests $568,000 in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

VCI Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 7,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $568,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ecofi Investissements SA purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen cut 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.36.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL stock opened at $83.66 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $75.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.46. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 149.39, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 75,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the acquisition, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.