Holocene Advisors LP Purchases 194,492 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 71.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 466,540 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 194,492 shares during the quarter. Holocene Advisors LP owned 0.13% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $46,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Armistice Capital LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% in the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 182,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,398,000 after acquiring an additional 96,239 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the third 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 last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 111,012 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,067,000 after purchasing an additional 32,215 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,043,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company's stock worth $211,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,439 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Estée Lauder Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on 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. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Estée Lauder Companies from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $113.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.57.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 77,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,010,345. The trade was a 49.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm's 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 directly owns 295,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company's stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 1.8 %

EL stock traded up $1.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.34. 4,873,828 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,545,985. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $159.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market capitalization of $27.76 billion, a PE ratio of 135.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 1.05.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. Estée Lauder Companies's revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is 250.00%.

About Estée Lauder Companies

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.