The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) CEO Fabrizio Freda Sells 11,705 Shares of Stock

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL – Get Rating) CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 11,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total value of $3,160,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 125,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,955,740. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $277.16 on Wednesday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $186.47 and a 52-week high of $324.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $245.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $241.69.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 2nd. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.08. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 41.46% and a net margin of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $3.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 30th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is an increase from Estée Lauder Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on EL shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $271.00 to $281.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $260.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $324.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.48.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 57.5% during the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 157.1% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 707 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 6,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 14,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,697,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 69,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,185,000 after purchasing an additional 41,295 shares during the period. 55.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Estée Lauder Companies

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The Estée Lauder Companies Inc manufactures, markets, and sells skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products worldwide. It offers a range of skin care products, including moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, body care, exfoliators, acne care and oil correctors, facial masks, cleansing devices, and sun care products; and makeup products, such as lipsticks, lip glosses, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.