Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 4,745 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 183,978 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,745 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.05% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $36,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 94,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,567,000 after purchasing an additional 8,460 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 27.8% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 5.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,766,000 after buying an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.3% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,331,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,444,000 after acquiring an additional 30,452 shares during the period. Finally, Sit Investment Associates Inc. grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.2% during the second quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 29,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,775,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.93, for a total transaction of $272,866.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 48,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,421,020.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.93, for a total value of $272,866.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 48,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,421,020.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jane Lauder sold 12,661 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.75, for a total value of $1,933,967.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,523,450. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $265.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $224.00 to $118.00 in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.48.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.0 %

EL opened at $123.81 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.45, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $102.22 and a one year high of $283.62.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 3.54%. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. Analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 30th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 173.68%.

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