The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Port Capital LLC

Port Capital LLC lessened its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,969 shares of the company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the quarter. Port Capital LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prentice Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $498,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $455,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 130.4% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,000 after buying an additional 5,140 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 48.5% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 7,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 71.5% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 466,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,509,000 after acquiring an additional 194,492 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EL shares. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $113.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. B. Riley dropped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, 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. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $77.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $80.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.07. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $27.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 138.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 1.05.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company 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 $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.00%.

Estée Lauder Companies Company Profile

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.