City Holding Co. Purchases 105 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

City Holding Co. increased its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,785 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 16.2% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. GenWealth Group Inc. grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 21.0% in the first quarter. GenWealth Group Inc. now owns 2,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 65.2% in the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 32.1% in the first quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 195,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,165,000 after acquiring an additional 47,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter worth about $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on EL shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $191.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America upgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup upgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on 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. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.75.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL stock traded up $1.24 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $115.09. 169,161 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,766,273. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $129.57 and a 200 day moving average of $138.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.22 and a 52-week high of $198.86. The company has a market cap of $41.27 billion, a PE ratio of 64.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.04.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.32%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total transaction of $1,815,989.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,958,990.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total value of $1,815,989.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,958,990.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total transaction of $1,967,134.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 47,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,412,971.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,255 shares of company stock worth $5,453,232 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

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.