Atria Investments Inc Trims Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Atria Investments Inc reduced its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 57.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,916 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,188 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 23.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 34,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,421,000 after purchasing an additional 6,569 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth $1,396,000. Rovin Capital UT ADV lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 49.5% during the third quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 6,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 2,315 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 11,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 8,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $847,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 75,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This represents a 32.20 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on EL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group dropped their price target on 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, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $66.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.00 billion, a PE ratio of 119.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.05. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $159.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $83.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 471.43%.

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.