Norges Bank Makes New $251.30 Million Investment in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,351,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,304,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.93% of Estée Lauder Companies as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EL. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,704,000 after purchasing an additional 3,313,557 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,025,532,000 after buying an additional 2,344,210 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 192.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 3,092,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,858,000 after buying an additional 2,033,188 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,807,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased 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 in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % 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

Several analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty investment 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 company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL opened at $65.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.55, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $155.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -71.79%.

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.