Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Downgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to Equal Weight

Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $72.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $105.00.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. HSBC downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.52.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $66.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $23.88 billion, a PE ratio of 118.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $90.09 and a 200-day moving average of $105.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Estée Lauder Companies has a one year low of $63.36 and a one year high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently 471.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at $4,578,114. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related 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 value of $364,142.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,209 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,578,114. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EL. Armistice Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% during the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 182,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,398,000 after acquiring an additional 96,239 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $997,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $211,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,439 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $6,043,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $558,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.