e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) Stock Price Up 5.2% After Analyst Upgrade

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF - Get Free Report) shares traded up 5.2% during trading on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $156.00 to $158.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. e.l.f. Beauty traded as high as $135.86 and last traded at $135.15. 518,477 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 1,279,061 shares. The stock had previously closed at $128.41.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on ELF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $154.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on e.l.f. Beauty from $220.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on e.l.f. Beauty from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, e.l.f. Beauty has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $169.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maureen C. Watson sold 785 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $102,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,888 shares in the company, valued at $245,440. The trade was a 29.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Scott Milsten sold 530 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.60, for a total value of $72,928.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 68,853 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,474,172.80. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,205 shares of company stock worth $297,442 in the last 90 days. 3.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On e.l.f. Beauty

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ELF. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in e.l.f. Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in e.l.f. Beauty by 1,855.0% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 391 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 2,357.1% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 516 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

e.l.f. Beauty Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $129.27 and a 200 day moving average of $137.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.50.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.34. e.l.f. Beauty had a net margin of 8.87% and a return on equity of 19.34%. The business had revenue of $301.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About e.l.f. Beauty

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of inclusive, accessible, clean, vegan and cruelty free cosmetics and skin care products. The company focuses on the e-commerce, national retailers and international business channels. Its brands include elf, elf skin, WELL People and KEYS soulcare.