Fabrizio Freda Sells 10,969 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Stock

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EL traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $66.04. 3,209,138 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,378,246. The firm has a market cap of $23.69 billion, a PE ratio of 118.25, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.05. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.36 and a 12 month high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.43.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 250.00%.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Armistice Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% during the second 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 period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,043,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $558,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 367,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,608,000 after purchasing an additional 5,915 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EL. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. HSBC cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.90.

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.