Golden State Wealth Management LLC Invests $30,000 in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EL. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,510,000 after buying an additional 1,310,900 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after buying an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 695.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,123,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,994,000 after purchasing an additional 982,183 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 1,127.5% in the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,059,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,580,000 after purchasing an additional 972,799 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 3.0 %

EL opened at $70.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.42 billion, a PE ratio of -36.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $76.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.54.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,128,300. This represents a 32.20 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 196,700 shares of company stock worth $12,762,093. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on EL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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.