The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Bought by Markel Group Inc.

Markel Group Inc. raised its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,125,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,599,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 34,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,421,000 after buying an additional 6,569 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 0.3% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 85,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,526,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $1,184,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on EL shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. CICC Research began 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 on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $72.00 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $159.54. The company has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.92, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

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.