Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 595 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 0.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 552,336 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 595 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $55,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. PARK CIRCLE Co purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,423,714.49. This represents a 20.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,296 shares of company stock worth $1,423,366. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $63.79 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 firm has a market cap of $22.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.42. 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 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 471.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EL shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. HSBC lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $113.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Nineteen research 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 company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.90.

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.