Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Downgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to “Neutral”

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Friday, Briefing.com reports. They currently have a $74.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $113.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target points to a potential upside of 7.36% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Bank of America lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday. HSBC lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $131.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.95.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 20.9 %

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $68.93 on Friday. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $63.36 and a 1 year high of $159.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $90.63 and its 200-day moving average is $106.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $24.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.82, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.01.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.80 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 16.91%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the company’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 completion of 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 $1,423,714.49. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total value of $315,963.41. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in 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 worth $211,000,000 after buying an additional 1,920,439 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the first quarter worth $291,171,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,188,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,555 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in 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 valued at $402,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.