10,136 Shares in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Acquired by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 10,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,012,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Armistice Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% in the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 182,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,398,000 after purchasing an additional 96,239 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 40.9% in the third quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 111,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,067,000 after buying an additional 32,215 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,043,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 1.9 %

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $77.45 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.07. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.80 billion, a PE ratio of 138.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 250.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

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