Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL)

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 57,215 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 238% compared to the average daily volume of 16,906 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. CICC Research started coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.95.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $69.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.73. Estée Lauder Companies has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.92, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.03.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $90,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,807,000 after buying an additional 1,330,840 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 548.0% in the 4th quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 6,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 5,540 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,474,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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