Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Estee Lauder Companies Call Options (NYSE:EL)

The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 37,897 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 833% compared to the typical volume of 4,063 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.82, for a total value of $373,045.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 50,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,036,954.22. The trade was a 6.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Rashida La Lande sold 7,766 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.32, for a total value of $802,383.12. Following the sale, the vice president owned 14,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,483,365.24. This represents a 35.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 75,105 shares of company stock worth $7,423,185. Corporate insiders own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estee Lauder Companies

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Estee Lauder Companies by 950.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,843,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $993,567,000 after buying an additional 12,526,471 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,909,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,074,000 after acquiring an additional 482,185 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $134,551,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,137,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,826,000 after acquiring an additional 226,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 44.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,192,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,559,000 after acquiring an additional 365,651 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EL has been the subject of several recent research reports. China Intl Cap raised Estee Lauder Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $86.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up from $85.00) on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $104.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.19.

Estee Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL stock traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $105.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,042,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,777,447. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.91. Estee Lauder Companies has a 52-week low of $66.22 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $38.06 billion, a PE ratio of 214.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 19th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.55 billion. Estee Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 1.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.09 EPS. Estee Lauder Companies has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.100-3.350 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Estee Lauder Companies will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Estee Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Estee Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 285.71%.

About Estee Lauder Companies

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE: EL) is a global prestige beauty company that develops, markets and sells skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair-care products. Its portfolio includes brands such as Estée Lauder, Clinique, M·A·C, La Mer, Jo Malone London, Aveda, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Tom Ford Beauty, Le Labo and The Ordinary.

Founded in 1946 by Estée and Joseph Lauder, the company began with four skincare products and has expanded into a multinational beauty business. Its products are sold through department and specialty stores, beauty retailers, brand-operated stores, e-commerce platforms, salons, spas and other distribution channels.

The Estée Lauder Companies serves consumers in markets across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.