e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) by 97.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,510 shares of the company’s stock after selling 114,347 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in e.l.f. Beauty were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 39.5% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,305,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,480,000 after buying an additional 1,501,151 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty in the 3rd quarter worth $121,558,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty in the 3rd quarter worth $76,321,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in e.l.f. Beauty by 84.4% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,259,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,432,000 after acquiring an additional 576,383 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in e.l.f. Beauty by 223.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 555,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,543,000 after purchasing an additional 383,478 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $240.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $184.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on e.l.f. Beauty from $131.00 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on e.l.f. Beauty from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, e.l.f. Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.82.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Performance

e.l.f. Beauty stock opened at $125.55 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.49. e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.50 and a 12 month high of $221.83. 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’s 50-day moving average is $124.74 and its 200-day moving average is $143.63.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.34. e.l.f. Beauty had a return on equity of 19.34% and a net margin of 8.87%. The firm had revenue of $301.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. e.l.f. Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at e.l.f. Beauty

In other e.l.f. Beauty news, CEO Tarang Amin sold 890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.60, for a total transaction of $122,464.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 99,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,718,582.40. This trade represents a 0.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott Milsten sold 530 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.60, for a total value of $72,928.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 68,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,474,172.80. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,205 shares of company stock valued at $297,442 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

e.l.f. Beauty Profile

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.