V Square Quantitative Management LLC Has $494,000 Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,594 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 757 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,392,000 after buying an additional 45,687 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position 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 worth $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% during the third 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 during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the purchase, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 119,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,801,318. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.3 %

EL stock opened at $68.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.70 billion, a PE ratio of -35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.94. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -71.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on EL shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, CICC Research started coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies 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.