Qsemble Capital Management LP Trims Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Qsemble Capital Management LP decreased its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 36.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,975 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,100 shares during the quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 29.6% in the third quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 2,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 35.3% in the third quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 80,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,012,000 after purchasing an additional 20,958 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 115.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,859 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 2.6% during the third quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $307,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $72.97 on Tuesday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $159.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.30, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.63.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 1.92%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 471.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 75,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.57.

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.