Stifel Financial Corp Sells 266,813 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Stifel Financial Corp reduced its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 56.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 201,902 shares of the company’s stock after selling 266,813 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $20,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in 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 worth $570,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,926 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% in the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,788,000 after buying an additional 1,066,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 1,127.5% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,059,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,580,000 after buying an additional 972,799 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $81.70 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75. The firm has a market cap of $29.33 billion, a PE ratio of 145.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $79.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.65.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 250.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.57.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the 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 directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were purchased 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. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

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.