Meridian Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position 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 increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $211,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $368,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,320 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 972,799 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 4.3 %

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $72.97 on Tuesday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.75. 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 capitalization of $26.19 billion, a PE ratio of 130.30, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.63.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 471.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were acquired 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 trade represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. The trade was 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.57.

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.