Cacti Asset Management LLC Invests $276,000 in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Cacti Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $276,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of EL. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 3,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 25.6% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 103.1% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $97.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.00. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.39 and a 52 week high of $159.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $92.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.84.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.80 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 148.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value 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 $1,423,714.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value 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 $1,423,714.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,578,114. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on EL. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.64.

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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.