MetLife Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 64,334 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,632 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $6,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EL. BNP Paribas increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 26.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 7,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 1,545 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 56,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,653,000 after purchasing an additional 4,008 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 77.2% during the third quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 18,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,812,000 after purchasing an additional 7,919 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 48.3% in the third quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 999,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,641,000 after purchasing an additional 325,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 5.9% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 101,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,146,000 after buying an additional 5,676 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 77,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of Estée Lauder Companies 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EL shares. HSBC downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock 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 report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL opened at $72.17 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $81.43 and its 200-day moving average is $96.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business 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 $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 471.43%.

Estée Lauder Companies Company Profile

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.