e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) Shares Gap Up to $155.63

Shares of e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $155.63, but opened at $172.79. e.l.f. Beauty shares last traded at $179.26, with a volume of 1,798,699 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ELF shares. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a report on Monday, April 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $214.00 target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $197.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $230.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.77.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $10.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $173.88 and its 200 day moving average is $159.36.

Insider Activity at e.l.f. Beauty

In related news, CEO Tarang Amin sold 23,519 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.89, for a total value of $4,677,693.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,165,713.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other e.l.f. Beauty news, SVP Joshua Allen Franks sold 727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.16, for a total value of $120,071.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 83,736 shares in the company, valued at $13,829,837.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Tarang Amin sold 23,519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.89, for a total transaction of $4,677,693.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,165,713.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 201,600 shares of company stock valued at $34,307,124 in the last quarter. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On e.l.f. Beauty

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in e.l.f. Beauty by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,050,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,351,000 after purchasing an additional 79,701 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,540,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,744,000 after buying an additional 126,231 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 15.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,497,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,493,000 after buying an additional 198,235 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 58.2% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,424,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,427,000 after buying an additional 523,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 952,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,538,000 after buying an additional 7,999 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About e.l.f. Beauty

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cosmetic and skin care products under the e.l.f. Cosmetics, e.l.f. Skin, Well People, and Keys Soulcare brand names worldwide. The company offers eye, lip, face, face, paw, and skin care products. It sells its products through national and international retailers and direct-to-consumer channels, which include e-commerce platforms in the United States, and internationally primarily through distributors.