EP Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $403,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. PARK CIRCLE Co acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 0.3 %

EL opened at $81.01 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) 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. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.00%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, 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. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on EL. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. HSBC lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Nineteen equities 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.57.

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.