Norges Bank Makes New $251.30 Million Investment in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,351,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,304,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,025,532,000 after buying an additional 2,344,210 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after acquiring an additional 913,470 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,630,000 after acquiring an additional 954,493 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,587,000 after acquiring an additional 70,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,704,000 after purchasing an additional 3,313,557 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL opened at $65.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.48 billion, a PE ratio of -33.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50-day moving average is $72.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.14. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $155.73.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. Research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Insider Activity

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

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