Alethea Capital Management LLC Takes $345,000 Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Alethea Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $345,000. Estée Lauder Companies makes up about 0.2% of Alethea Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. PARK CIRCLE Co acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL stock opened at $72.12 on Friday. 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 $25.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.20.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research 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 dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 471.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on EL shares. Citigroup cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America cut their price objective 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. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut 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, November 1st. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.57.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 77,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This trade represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

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.