Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Buys 268 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,589 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 268 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $95,085,000. Souders Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 15,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,257,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $408,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $9,689,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 8,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after buying an additional 1,406 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $146.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $145.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.46.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $145.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.36. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.22 and a 52-week high of $260.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $146.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.33. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 3.08%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 203.08%.

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