International Assets Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lowered its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 99.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,126 shares of the company's stock after selling 499,710 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $231,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EL. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 7.8% during the third quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 2,376 shares of the company's stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 7.1% in the third quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.3% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,001 shares of the company's stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Allan Corp increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3.1% during the third quarter. William Allan Corp now owns 6,167 shares of the company's stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Hsbc Global Res cut Estée Lauder Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $96.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This represents a 32.20 % increase in their position. The purchase 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 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company's stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EL traded down $1.18 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $73.82. The company had a trading volume of 2,837,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,127,739. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.96.

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. 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 for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was 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.