Banco Santander S.A. Acquires 349 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,695 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EL. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, 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 acquired at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased 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 directly 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. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE EL opened at $72.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.11 and a 200-day moving average of $79.39.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio 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.