Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 425 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 12.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,993 shares of the company’s stock after selling 425 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EL. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.3% in the first quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 3,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 25.6% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 11.9% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 849 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 103.1% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EL shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value of $364,142.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,714.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value of $364,142.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,714.49. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 2.2 %

EL stock opened at $93.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.54. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.39 and a twelve month high of $159.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.67 billion, a PE ratio of 52.76, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.39. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The business had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.07 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 148.31%.

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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.