The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Pitcairn Co.

Pitcairn Co. decreased its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 44.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,389 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,455 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $307,000. Biltmore Family Office LLC increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 2,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 1,974 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,338,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,443,000 after buying an additional 35,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in 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 worth $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on EL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on 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. HSBC lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on 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. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 4.6 %

NYSE:EL opened at $69.93 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $82.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.04. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 1.05.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 471.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total value of $315,963.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at $4,578,114. This trade represents a 6.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.