The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 57,215 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 238% compared to the average volume of 16,906 call options.
A number of analysts recently weighed in on EL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.95.
Get Our Latest Analysis on EL
Shares of EL traded down $12.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $70.37. 11,909,412 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,644,447. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.29 and a 200 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 market cap of $25.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 125.39, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.03.
Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.31. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.
In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 75,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after purchasing an additional 913,470 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of 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. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,996,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $374,630,000 after purchasing an additional 954,493 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.
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.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
Before you consider Estée Lauder Companies, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Estée Lauder Companies wasn't on the list.
While Estée Lauder Companies currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.