OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Grows Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 34.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,936 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,816 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the purchase, the director now 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

EL has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $67.68 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.21 and a 200 day moving average of $78.25. The stock has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.71, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month 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.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

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.