Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Raises Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 695.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,123,427 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 982,183 shares during the period. Estée Lauder Companies accounts for approximately 0.8% of Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC owned about 0.31% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $111,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EL. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000,000 after buying an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,510,000 after buying an additional 1,310,900 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after buying an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% during the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,320 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 77,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE EL opened at $78.17 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $80.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.85. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75. The company has a market cap of $28.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.59, a P/E/G ratio of 5.02 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.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.00%.

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.