Highland Capital Management LLC Buys New Holdings in e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF)

Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,250,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 39.5% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,305,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,501,151 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth about $121,558,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth about $76,321,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 223.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 555,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,543,000 after acquiring an additional 383,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 20,187.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 334,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,497,000 after acquiring an additional 333,093 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ELF. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of e.l.f. Beauty from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $139.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group started 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 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on e.l.f. Beauty from $220.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $240.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Tarang Amin sold 890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.60, for a total transaction of $122,464.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 99,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,718,582.40. This trade represents a 0.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maureen C. Watson sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $102,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $245,440. This trade represents a 29.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,205 shares of company stock valued at $297,442. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Up 1.1 %

e.l.f. Beauty stock opened at $107.07 on Friday. e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.50 and a fifty-two week high of $221.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $127.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.78.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $301.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.