Swedbank AB Reduces Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Swedbank AB lessened its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 1.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 445,609 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,036 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $44,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Armistice Capital LLC raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 111,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,067,000 after acquiring an additional 32,215 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,043,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 4.6 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $69.93 on Monday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market capitalization of $25.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $82.78 and a 200 day moving average of $98.04.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 471.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total value of $315,963.41. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,578,114. The trade was a 6.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on EL. StockNews.com lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced 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, November 1st. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.57.

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.