Haverford Trust Co Acquires 1,557 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Haverford Trust Co lifted its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 48.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,765 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter worth $35,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. PARK CIRCLE Co bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $1,423,714.49. This trade represents a 20.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,296 shares of company stock worth $1,423,366. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL opened at $64.82 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.75, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $85.64 and a 200 day moving average of $101.68. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 250.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EL. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.90.

About Estée Lauder Companies

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.