Commerce Bank Lowers Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Commerce Bank trimmed its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 35.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,014 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,807 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% during the second 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 period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 111,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,067,000 after acquiring an additional 32,215 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,439 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth about $6,043,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter valued at about $558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on EL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $72.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $82.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.63.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 471.43%.

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.