Hartford Financial Management Inc. Purchases 2,439 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,915 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,439 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EL. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% in the 4th 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 period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 752.9% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. B. Riley reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.95.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $85.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $159.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $76.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.18. The company has a market cap of $30.67 billion, a PE ratio of 152.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 1.02.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.36 billion for 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 for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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