Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Price Target Cut to $78.00 by Analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) had its price objective lowered by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $80.00 to $78.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.68.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $79.75 on Wednesday. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $28.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.41, a PEG ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.96.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 250.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 584,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,202,000 after purchasing an additional 41,776 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 20,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,193,000 after buying an additional 4,872 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 37.2% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 40,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,265,000 after buying an additional 10,871 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 105,466.7% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 3,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 8,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 3,781 shares during the period. 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.