Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Acquires New Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 173,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,008,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $334,000. Utah Retirement Systems increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 38,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,867,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 48.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 294,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,108,000 after purchasing an additional 96,841 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 4,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,365,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,370,000 after purchasing an additional 285,272 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL opened at $59.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.31 billion, a PE ratio of -30.44, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $62.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.67. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.37 and a 1 year high of $139.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.51 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The business’s revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -57.85%.

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