Highland Capital Management LLC Has $6.58 Million Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Highland Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,983 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,425 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $6,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth $858,070,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $537,850,000 after buying an additional 1,512,982 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $767,730,000 after buying an additional 1,387,271 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,009,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,739,070,000 after buying an additional 1,167,553 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 132.4% in the third 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $145.05 on Thursday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.22 and a 52-week high of $260.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $142.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $4.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 203.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.71.

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.