Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Takes Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,184,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% in the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 182,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,398,000 after buying an additional 96,239 shares in 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 acquiring an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,043,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $558,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 367,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,608,000 after purchasing an additional 5,915 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 3.1 %

NYSE:EL opened at $64.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $85.64 and a 200 day moving average of $101.68. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on EL shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on 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. Barclays cut their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $136.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.90.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $364,142.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,714.49. The trade was a 20.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,578,114. This trade represents a 6.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,296 shares of company stock valued at $1,423,366. Company 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.