Insider Selling: The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Director Sells $364,142.90 in Stock

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of Estée Lauder Companies 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,714.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:EL traded up $0.97 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $94.67. 1,993,878 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,067,186. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.46, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.99. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.05 and a 52 week high of $165.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $100.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.84.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.39. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 148.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on EL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $165.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bernstein Bank increased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.77.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth $518,975,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $291,171,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,188,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,555 shares during the period. Finally, Carmignac Gestion lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,908.0% during the 4th quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 1,195,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,201 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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