Wells Fargo & Company Increases Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Price Target to $74.00

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $74.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 0.34% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. CICC Research assumed coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. HSBC downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.50.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $73.75 on Tuesday. Estée Lauder Companies has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.75. The company has a market capitalization of $26.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.70, a P/E/G ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.21. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,439 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of 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 period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,926 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,320 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.