Bleakley Financial Group LLC Purchases 4,011 Shares of The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 47.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,510 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,011 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Estee Lauder Companies were worth $826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EL. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 0.7% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 24,633 shares of the company's stock worth $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in Estee Lauder Companies by 5.1% during the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 3,796 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems grew its position in Estee Lauder Companies by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 38,236 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,867,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its position in Estee Lauder Companies by 2.9% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 7,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $475,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in Estee Lauder Companies by 0.3% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 63,538 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,194,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $62.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Hsbc Global Res raised Estee Lauder Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Estee Lauder Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $71.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Estee Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $82.50.

Estee Lauder Companies Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of EL traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $87.20. The company had a trading volume of 2,292,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,304,801. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.37 and a 52-week high of $103.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.03, a P/E/G ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.36. Estee Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 5.89% and a positive return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estee Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Estee Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently -57.85%.

About Estee Lauder Companies

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.