Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Stock Price Down 3.4% - Time to Sell?

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 3.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $71.44 and last traded at $71.50. 775,717 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 1,518,579 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on EL shares. Citigroup cut Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. CICC Research started coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, December 27th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered 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 research note on Friday, November 1st. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.82.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

The business's 50-day moving average price is $73.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.47. 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 company has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.05.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 250.00%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter valued at $30,000. PARK CIRCLE Co purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Ecofi Investissements SA bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 55.15% 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.