Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Grows Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,151,580 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 496,308 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.16% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $607,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EL. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 16,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,173 shares of the company's stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,560 shares of the company's stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,773 shares of the company's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 8.1% in the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL traded up $2.73 during trading on Monday, reaching $134.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,836,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,777,945. The company has a market cap of $48.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.01, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.92. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.22 and a 1 year high of $204.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on EL shares. Citigroup upgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $160.92.

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

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