The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Purchased by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 147,195 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,809 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $14,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth about $30,000. PARK CIRCLE Co acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 63.9% during the second quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on EL. Wells Fargo & Company cut Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four 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 $98.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 Stock Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $72.12 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $81.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.89 billion, a PE ratio of 128.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 1.05. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.75.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 471.43%.

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.