ING Groep NV Increases Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

ING Groep NV lifted its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 393.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 301,905 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 240,749 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV owned approximately 0.08% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $30,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EL. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.3% during the second quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,144 shares of the company's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 2.1% during the second quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 7,109 shares of the company's stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 22.3% in the second quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 844 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,643 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EL shares. Raymond James cut Estée Lauder Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Estée Lauder Companies from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $113.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Hsbc Global Res cut Estée Lauder Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $100.90.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL traded up $1.96 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $64.82. 4,008,916 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,461,326. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a PE ratio of 115.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.05. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.68.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is 250.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total value of $315,963.41. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,578,114. The trade was a 6.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,296 shares of company stock valued at $1,423,366. 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.