Sheets Smith Wealth Management Has $381,000 Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management reduced its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 70.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,817 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,000 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EL. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. PARK CIRCLE Co purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 431 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on EL shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $100.90.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:EL traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $64.58. The stock had a trading volume of 5,864,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,443,773. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.11, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $87.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.12. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.88 and a 1-year high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. The business's revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is 471.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total value of $315,963.41. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,578,114. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,296 shares of company stock valued at $1,423,366 over the last ninety days. 12.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.