LGT Capital Partners LTD. Has $159.26 Million Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,088,926 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 140,855 shares during the quarter. Estée Lauder Companies accounts for about 4.8% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD. owned approximately 0.30% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $159,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $858,070,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $537,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,982 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,730,000 after buying an additional 1,387,271 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,009,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,070,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 132.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,735,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,901,000 after buying an additional 988,829 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on EL shares. Bank of America raised Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $179.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $165.63.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE EL opened at $154.09 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $142.84 and a 200-day moving average of $138.35. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.22 and a 52-week high of $260.46. 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 company has a market capitalization of $55.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 203.08%.

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.