Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Stock Price

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Bank of America from $100.00 to $75.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.89% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Twenty investment 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.18.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

NYSE EL traded down $1.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $67.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,593,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,346,876. The company’s 50-day moving average is $90.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.91. The stock has a market cap of $24.04 billion, a PE ratio of 119.64, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.01. Estée Lauder Companies has a fifty-two week low of $63.36 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 2.50%. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,714.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of Estée Lauder Companies 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,714.49. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,188,832,000 after buying an additional 1,250,555 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,320 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,163,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,612,000 after purchasing an additional 140,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

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.