Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 45,687 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 141,804 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 45,687 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $13,392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after buying an additional 913,470 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company's stock worth $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company's stock worth $464,587,000 after buying an additional 70,307 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company's stock valued at $402,938,000 after buying an additional 1,078,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% during the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company's stock valued at $368,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,320 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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 research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. HSBC downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen investment 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 stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Estée Lauder Companies stock traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $74.36. The company had a trading volume of 7,619,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,603,364. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.75. The firm has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.79, a PEG ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $76.39 and a 200-day moving average of $91.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. Estée Lauder Companies's revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is presently 250.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 12.78% of the company's stock.

Estée Lauder Companies 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.