Unique Wealth Strategies LLC Purchases Shares of 5,601 The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $819,000.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EL traded up $2.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $147.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,435,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,016,077. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $146.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.25. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $102.22 and a one year high of $250.63. The company has a market cap of $52.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.07.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.33. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 203.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $168.17.

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.