HighTower Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY - Free Report) by 48.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 503,283 shares of the company's stock after selling 464,972 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Coty worth $4,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Coty by 330.3% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,107 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 2,385 shares during the period. WealthShield Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coty during the 2nd quarter valued at about $100,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Coty in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $107,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coty in the third quarter worth approximately $109,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Coty by 9.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COTY shares. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Coty from $14.50 to $12.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays lowered Coty from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $8.00 to $7.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Coty from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Coty in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Coty from $10.50 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $11.56.

Coty Price Performance

NYSE:COTY traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $7.62. The stock had a trading volume of 4,108,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,276,297. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.63 billion, a PE ratio of 44.82, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.89. Coty Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.93 and a 52 week high of $13.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $7.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Coty (NYSE:COTY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.04). Coty had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 9.16%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.09 EPS. Coty's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Coty Inc. will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coty Company Profile

Coty Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells beauty products worldwide. It operates through Prestige and Consumer Beauty segments. The company provides fragrance, color cosmetics, and skin and body care products. It offers Prestige segment products primarily through prestige retailers, including perfumeries, department stores, e-retailers, direct-to-consumer websites, and duty-free shops under the Burberry, Calvin Klein, Chloe, Davidoff, Escada, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Jil Sander, Joop!, Kylie Jenner, Lancaster, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Orveda, philosophy, SKKN BY KIM, and Tiffany & Co brands.