Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 85,151 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 62.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 221,152 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,151 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $16,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EL. Peterson Wealth Services grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 1,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 approximately $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EL shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL opened at $56.13 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $67.24 and a 200 day moving average of $75.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.37 and a 12 month high of $149.91. The company has a market capitalization of $20.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.79, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -71.79%.

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.