Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Sells 2,396 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise trimmed its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,520 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,396 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of EL. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 12.7% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 2,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Zevin Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zevin Asset Management LLC now owns 80,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,979,000 after acquiring an additional 6,676 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 691,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,946,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the period. S&CO Inc. raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 71.2% during the third quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 58,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 24,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpha Family Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth about $274,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $66.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 119.37, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.05. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $83.08 and its 200 day moving average is $98.90.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 471.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered 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. UBS Group dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut 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 research note on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,010,345. The trade was a 49.36 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $4,578,114. This represents a 6.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.