The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 20.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,071 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes 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 acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 22.3% in the second quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 63.9% during the second quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Biltmore Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 7.8% during the third quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 2,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. HSBC downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $78.19 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $77.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.81. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.75. The firm has a market cap of $28.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.63, a PEG ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.05.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 77,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the director now owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Company 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.