Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Takes Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 12,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,229,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EL. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 48.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 3,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 19.7% in the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,066 shares of the company's stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,792.3% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 492 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 4.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,873 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,008,000 after buying an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 117.6% in the second quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 3,264 shares of the company's stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 1,764 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL stock traded down $1.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $81.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,458,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,584,278. The business has a fifty day moving average of $79.17 and a 200-day moving average of $93.34. The stock has a market cap of $29.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.54, a P/E/G ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 1.05. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $159.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 250.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $113.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.57.

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.