Unique Wealth Strategies LLC Invests $819,000 in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $819,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,626,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,692,479,000 after purchasing an additional 140,488 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company's stock worth $767,730,000 after buying an additional 1,387,271 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,483,459 shares of the company's stock worth $648,085,000 after buying an additional 254,198 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company's stock worth $537,850,000 after buying an additional 1,512,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,080,352 shares of the company's stock worth $445,265,000 after buying an additional 51,039 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:EL traded up $2.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $147.45. 2,435,850 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,016,077. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.07. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $146.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.23. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $102.22 and a 12 month high of $250.63.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 203.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EL. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised Estée Lauder Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $168.17.

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.