Washington Capital Management Inc. Invests $352,000 in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Washington Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after acquiring an additional 913,470 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,587,000 after purchasing an additional 70,307 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,510,000 after buying an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 77,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction of $4,960,775.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.68.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $82.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.75. The company has a market cap of $29.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 147.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.19.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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