Commerce Bank Cuts Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Commerce Bank decreased its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 35.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,014 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,807 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in 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 period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078,926 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% in the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,320 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter valued at about $82,664,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,128,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $72.97 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $82.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.30, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 471.43%.

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.