National Bank of Canada FI Raises Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 56.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 188,483 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 68,113 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.05% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $18,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Armistice Capital LLC raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% during the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 182,312 shares of the company's stock worth $19,398,000 after buying an additional 96,239 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% during the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company's stock worth $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 41,773 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company's stock valued at $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 40.9% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,043,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EL. Bank of America lowered their target price 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. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:EL traded up $0.91 on Tuesday, hitting $82.59. The stock had a trading volume of 3,781,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,580,305. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $79.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.65. The stock has a market cap of $29.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 147.46, a PEG ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 1.05. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 234,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This trade represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by 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.