Huntington National Bank Sells 235 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Huntington National Bank trimmed its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,089 shares of the company’s stock after selling 235 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EL. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,188,832,000 after buying an additional 1,250,555 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078,926 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% during the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,320 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter worth about $82,664,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $63.75 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.85. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $159.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 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.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 471.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value of $364,142.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,714.49. The trade was a 20.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,296 shares of company stock worth $1,423,366. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on EL. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $113.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.90.

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.