Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Trims Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,871 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,952 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Armistice Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% in the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 182,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,398,000 after purchasing an additional 96,239 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings 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 worth $211,000,000 after buying an additional 1,920,439 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,043,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $558,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 367,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,608,000 after acquiring an additional 5,915 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value of $364,142.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,714.49. This represents a 20.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This represents a 6.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,296 shares of company stock valued at $1,423,366 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EL shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued 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 shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.90.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.6 %

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $63.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.90 billion, a PE ratio of 113.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $85.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.42. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 471.43%.

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.