JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Price Target to $79.00

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) had its target price hoisted by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $74.00 to $79.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 1.46% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on 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. HSBC downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.55.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $77.86 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.83. The company has a market capitalization of $27.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 1.02. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share 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%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 77,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 234,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This trade represents a 49.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. 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

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings 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 valued at $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position 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 valued at $211,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,439 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake 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 valued at $292,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,320 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently 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.