Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Given New $71.00 Price Target at Barclays

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $63.00 to $71.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.55.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $77.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $73.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.83. The company has a market capitalization of $27.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 1.02. Estée Lauder Companies has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 250.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $8,585,000. Armistice Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% in the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 182,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,398,000 after purchasing an additional 96,239 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,392,000 after purchasing an additional 45,687 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% in the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 41,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% 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.