Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 97.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 160,344 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 79,278 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $15,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Armistice Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% during the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 182,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,398,000 after acquiring an additional 96,239 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted 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 in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,043,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $558,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 367,218 shares of the company's stock worth $56,608,000 after purchasing an additional 5,915 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:EL traded up $0.55 on Wednesday, reaching $65.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,741,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,469,069. The stock's 50-day moving average is $83.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.36. 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 current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.66, a PEG ratio of 3.85 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 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is currently 471.43%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
EL has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group decreased 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $125.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.57.
View Our Latest Report on EL
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction of $4,960,775.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,296 shares of company stock worth $1,423,366. 12.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
About Estée Lauder Companies
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Free Report)
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.
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