Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Has $8.45 Million Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 40.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 112,630 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 32,259 shares during the quarter. Estée Lauder Companies makes up about 1.1% of Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $8,445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after buying an additional 913,470 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,630,000 after buying an additional 954,493 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,587,000 after purchasing an additional 70,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $71.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.77, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.96. 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 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $159.54.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on EL. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on 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. CICC Research began coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on 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. Finally, B. Riley decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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