Highland Capital Management LLC Cuts Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Highland Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 37.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,494 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,125 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 752.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 580 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 75,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HSBC cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.95.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $85.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $30.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 152.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.02. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.