New England Research & Management Inc. Decreases Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

New England Research & Management Inc. reduced its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,685 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,250,555 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its stake 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 worth $368,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,320 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,163,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,612,000 after acquiring an additional 140,416 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 12.0% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,962,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,262,000 after acquiring an additional 318,257 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake 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 worth $211,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EL shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,714.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value of $364,142.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,423,714.49. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL traded up $0.19 during trading on Monday, hitting $96.05. The stock had a trading volume of 2,675,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,216,194. The firm has a market cap of $34.44 billion, a PE ratio of 53.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.01. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.39 and a 12 month high of $159.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.89.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.80 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.07 EPS. Analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.31%.

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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.