MML Investors Services LLC Has $3.08 Million Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

MML Investors Services LLC cut its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 22.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,849 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,778 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $3,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EL. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 56.6% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 188,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,790,000 after purchasing an additional 68,113 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth about $366,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth about $403,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth about $1,229,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 695.4% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,123,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,994,000 after purchasing an additional 982,183 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of 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. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the business’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 $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL opened at $80.04 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.62. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.73 billion, a PE ratio of 142.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.33 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 250.00%.

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.