Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 502,235 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 28.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,237,975 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 502,235 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.63% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $327,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Moreno Evelyn V boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moreno Evelyn V now owns 16,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 16,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,428,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock traded down $0.66 during trading on Monday, hitting $146.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,126,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,639,545. The stock has a market cap of $52.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.07. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.22 and a 52 week high of $250.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $146.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company 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 firm’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 203.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EL has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $145.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.17.

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