Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 822 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. cut its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 28,379 shares of the company’s stock after selling 822 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EL. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.3% in the second quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 7,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 844 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.1% in the second quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 7,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL opened at $73.93 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $81.96 and a 200-day moving average of $97.05. 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 company has a market capitalization of $26.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 1.05. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 471.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EL. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. HSBC downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.57.

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.