The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can cut its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 434,974 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,436 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.12% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $43,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Armistice Capital LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 96,239 shares during the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 111,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,067,000 after purchasing an additional 32,215 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,043,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL opened at $73.96 on Friday. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $81.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.89. The company has a market cap of $26.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.07, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 1.05.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced 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 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current 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 given 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 1.89%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 471.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $113.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at $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 through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 75,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. 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.