Stifel Financial Corp Has $20.13 Million Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Stifel Financial Corp lessened its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 201,902 shares of the company's stock after selling 266,813 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $20,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company's stock worth $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company's stock worth $402,938,000 after buying an additional 1,078,926 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company's stock worth $368,788,000 after buying an additional 1,066,320 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew 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 valued at $211,000,000 after buying an additional 1,920,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,338,581 shares of the company's stock worth $133,443,000 after acquiring an additional 35,364 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 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. UBS Group dropped 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 report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EL traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.58. 3,759,481 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,577,475. The company has a market cap of $29.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.89, a PEG ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 1.05. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $159.75. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $79.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.65.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. The company's revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 250.00%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, 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 value of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 310,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.