Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC Invests $203,000 in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 2,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Armistice Capital LLC increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% in the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 182,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,398,000 after buying an additional 96,239 shares in the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 40.9% in the third quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 111,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,067,000 after buying an additional 32,215 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000,000 after buying an additional 1,920,439 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter worth about $6,043,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth about $558,000. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at $4,578,114. This trade represents a 6.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,423,714.49. The trade was a 20.37 % 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. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $63.75 on Monday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $84.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.34.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

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.