Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 455 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Financial Counselors Inc. lessened its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,530 shares of the company’s stock after selling 455 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.3% in the second quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 7,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 22.3% during the second quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, City Holding Co. increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.1% during the second quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 7,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on EL. StockNews.com cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. HSBC lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut 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. 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $72.12 on Monday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $159.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $25.89 billion, a PE ratio of 128.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $81.43 and its 200 day moving average is $95.92.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 471.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.