Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Acquires 418,183 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 62.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,085,646 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 418,183 shares during the period. Estée Lauder Companies makes up about 0.8% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $158,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EL. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 324 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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 report on Tuesday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America 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 $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $191.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.17.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE EL traded down $2.40 on Thursday, hitting $144.96. 2,969,488 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,648,493. The company has a market cap of $51.96 billion, a PE ratio of 111.53, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.07. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $102.22 and a 12 month high of $250.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $146.84 and a 200-day moving average of $138.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.19 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 9.78%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 203.08%.

Estée Lauder Companies Company 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.