Swiss National Bank Has $68.95 Million Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 691,600 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.19% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $68,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,938,000 after buying an additional 1,078,926 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,439 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 3.5% during the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 991,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,535,000 after purchasing an additional 33,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 46.7% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 772,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,144,000 after purchasing an additional 245,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.90.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL opened at $64.81 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $83.81 and its 200 day moving average is $99.36. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.75. 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 stock has a market cap of $23.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.05.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for 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 business’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 471.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,296 shares of company stock worth $1,423,366. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

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.