Mizuho Securities USA LLC Acquires 159,326 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

by · The Markets Daily

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL – Free Report) by 887.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 177,282 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 159,326 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $17,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EL. Armistice Capital LLC raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% during the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 182,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,398,000 after acquiring an additional 96,239 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in 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 worth $211,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 111,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,067,000 after buying an additional 32,215 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter valued at about $6,043,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter worth about $558,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.90.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Estée Lauder Companies

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,423,714.49. This trade represents a 20.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 18,296 shares of company stock worth $1,423,366 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $63.75 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. 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’s 50-day moving average is $84.66 and its 200 day moving average is $100.53. The company has a market cap of $22.88 billion, a PE ratio of 113.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.05.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. 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 business posted $0.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 471.43%.

Estée Lauder Companies Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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