American Century Companies Inc. Has $250.70 Million Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 11,026.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,343,607 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,313,557 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.93% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $250,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,392,000 after purchasing an additional 45,687 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% in 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 grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in 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 lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after buying an additional 41,773 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price 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. The trade was 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 link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE EL opened at $67.04 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $155.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $24.07 billion, a PE ratio of -34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -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.