South Dakota Investment Council Increases Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 81.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 28,465 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,776 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EL. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased 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 purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,900 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings 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 valued at $402,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,926 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 695.4% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,123,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,994,000 after purchasing an additional 982,183 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 1,127.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,059,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,580,000 after purchasing an additional 972,799 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. CICC Research started coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price 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 report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, B. Riley reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL stock opened at $71.71 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.74 billion, a PE ratio of -36.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.89.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -71.79%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.