Mather Group LLC. Cuts Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Mather Group LLC. reduced its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 48.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 408 shares of the company’s stock after selling 389 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $41,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EL. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 47,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,732,000 after buying an additional 3,065 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 8,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $891,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth about $1,478,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 247,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,640,000 after purchasing an additional 36,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cacti Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $276,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $96.10 on Monday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.39 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75. The stock has a market cap of $34.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.99, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.80 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 2.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total value of $315,963.41. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on EL. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $131.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.00.

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