Bard Financial Services Inc. Purchases 8,070 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 45.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,020 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,070 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Centre Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,585,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 57.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,002,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,621,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in the 3rd 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. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on EL. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Twenty equities 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, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at $15,010,345. This trade represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL traded up $1.67 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $73.83. 1,581,194 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,459,506. The stock has a market cap of $26.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $73.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.86. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

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.