Van ECK Associates Corp Has $374.63 Million Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 23.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,996,404 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 954,493 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $374,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

NYSE EL opened at $69.04 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $76.44 and its 200-day moving average is $82.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.54. The company has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a PE ratio of -35.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on EL. Citigroup cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. HSBC cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 196,700 shares of company stock valued at $12,762,093. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.