Prudential Financial Inc. Has $9.22 Million Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 124,161 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,596 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $9,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EL. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,704,000 after buying an additional 3,313,557 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,025,532,000 after acquiring an additional 2,344,210 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% during 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. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake 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 worth $292,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 695.4% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,123,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,994,000 after purchasing an additional 982,183 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $65.42 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $72.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.14. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $155.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $23.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.55, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, January 31st. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

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.