e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) Given “Equal Weight” Rating at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reissued their equal weight rating on shares of e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) in a report issued on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $70.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $153.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ELF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $154.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on e.l.f. Beauty in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $133.00 price objective for the company. Finally, B. Riley lowered their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned 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 price target of $134.00.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Down 19.6 %

Shares of NYSE ELF opened at $71.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 38.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.61. e.l.f. Beauty has a 12-month low of $63.50 and a 12-month high of $221.83.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.35). e.l.f. Beauty had a return on equity of 19.34% and a net margin of 8.87%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that e.l.f. Beauty will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $122,464.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,699 shares in the company, valued at $13,718,582.40. This trade represents a 0.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Maureen C. Watson sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $102,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,888 shares in the company, valued at $245,440. This represents a 29.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,205 shares of company stock valued at $297,442. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake 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. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in e.l.f. Beauty during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.