Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.92 Million Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,128 shares of the company’s stock after selling 624 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 16,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $417,000. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth $2,543,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,279,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,199,000 after purchasing an additional 29,891 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL opened at $129.53 on Thursday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.03. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.22 and a 52 week high of $204.41. The stock has a market cap of $46.43 billion, a PE ratio of 72.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.07.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 4.18%. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bernstein Bank increased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $169.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.92.

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.