Eastern Bank Reduces Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Eastern Bank reduced its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 76.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 363 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,168 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $27,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth $75,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,795,000 after buying an additional 3,145 shares during the period. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 30.2% during the fourth quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,000 after buying an additional 3,235 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Hsbc Global Res cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 77,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,010,345. The trade was a 49.36 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 0.9 %

EL opened at $74.57 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.75. The company has a market cap of $26.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 133.16, a PEG ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.96.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.00%.

Estée Lauder Companies 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, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.