Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Makes New Investment in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 84,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,405,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 7,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 844 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total value of $315,963.41. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This trade represents a 6.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,296 shares of company stock worth $1,423,366 in the last quarter. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on 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. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.90.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $63.79 on Friday. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.90 billion, a PE ratio of 113.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.85.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 471.43%.

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.