Balentine LLC Acquires 464 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Balentine LLC grew its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,866 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EL. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 82.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 277 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total value of $1,967,134.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 47,248 shares in the company, valued at $6,412,971.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on EL. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.92.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $132.72 on Wednesday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.22 and a 1 year high of $204.41. The stock has a market cap of $47.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $142.12 and a 200 day moving average of $138.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.32%.

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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.