William Allan Corp Has $615,000 Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

William Allan Corp raised its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,167 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the quarter. William Allan Corp’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000,000 after buying an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after buying an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,788,000 after buying an additional 1,066,320 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,127.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,059,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,580,000 after acquiring an additional 972,799 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:EL opened at $73.96 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $81.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.89. 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 firm has a market cap of $26.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.79 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 the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 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. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 471.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. B. Riley decreased 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. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 77,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies 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.