7,459 Shares in The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Bought by YHB Investment Advisors Inc.

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 7,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,078,406,000 after acquiring an additional 8,930,011 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in Estee Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $554,509,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Estee Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $251,304,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $250,704,000 after purchasing an additional 3,313,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 148.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $410,984,000 after purchasing an additional 3,278,632 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on EL. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $67.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. B. Riley restated a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price target (down from $70.00) on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Estee Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.50.

Estee Lauder Companies Price Performance

Estee Lauder Companies stock traded up $1.59 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $79.15. 4,237,511 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,229,606. The company has a market cap of $28.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.70, a PEG ratio of 7.96 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.93. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.37 and a 52-week high of $113.85.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.36. Estee Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 15.60% and a negative net margin of 5.89%. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Estee Lauder Companies's revenue 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Estee Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Estee Lauder Companies's payout ratio is currently -57.85%.

Estee 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.