Markel Group Inc. Acquires New Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Markel Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 14,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,396,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. PARK CIRCLE Co acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 163.0% in the 1st quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 263 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 18,296 shares of company stock valued at $1,423,366. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 3.6 %

NYSE:EL opened at $63.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.88 and a 12-month high of $159.75. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.05.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 471.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $136.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.90.

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.