Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Purchases 41,114 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 86.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,454 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 41,114 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $12,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter valued at $37,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 209 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter valued at about $52,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $141.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $168.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock traded down $0.40 on Friday, hitting $144.41. The stock had a trading volume of 2,324,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,137,922. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $146.58 and a 200 day moving average of $138.06. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.22 and a twelve month high of $260.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.08, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.07.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.33. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 3.08%. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 203.08%.

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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.