AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 96,841 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 48.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 294,857 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 96,841 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.08% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $22,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,392,000 after acquiring an additional 45,687 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during 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. Washington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $352,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 91,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,838,000 after buying an additional 4,690 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,129,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on EL shares. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. B. Riley reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 target price (down previously from $70.00) on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $61.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.20.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $61.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,387,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,048,470. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.37 and a fifty-two week high of $139.34. The company has a market capitalization of $21.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.36, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.12. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $61.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.95.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.51 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -57.85%.

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.