Cerity Partners LLC Lowers Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 41.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,818 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,562 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $4,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. PARK CIRCLE Co acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter worth $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 63.9% in the second quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 431 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,128,300. This represents a 32.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company's stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:EL traded down $1.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $72.12. The stock had a trading volume of 3,620,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,537,056. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week 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's fifty day moving average is $81.43 and its 200 day moving average is $96.46. The stock has a market cap of $25.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.05.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 471.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $125.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. HSBC downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Company 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.