Traders Purchase Large Volume of e.l.f. Beauty Call Options (NYSE:ELF)

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 15,457 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 50% compared to the typical daily volume of 10,317 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ELF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $67.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Evercore initiated coverage on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. They set an “inline” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.60.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Performance

ELF traded up $3.77 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.44. 3,047,248 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,775,391. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.17, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.07. e.l.f. Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $48.82 and a fifty-two week high of $150.99.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $449.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $423.06 million. e.l.f. Beauty had a net margin of 1.61% and a return on equity of 11.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. e.l.f. Beauty has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.270-3.320 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that e.l.f. Beauty will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Catherine Hartnett sold 10,318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.94, for a total transaction of $535,916.92. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,033,711.52. The trade was a 15.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Tarang Amin sold 41,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $2,643,163.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 112,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,173,845.40. This represents a 26.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 235,649 shares of company stock valued at $14,647,024. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ELF. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 97.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 260 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 58.5% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners bought a new position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About e.l.f. Beauty

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE: ELF) is an American cosmetics company known for offering an extensive range of affordable, trend-driven makeup and skincare products. The company’s portfolio spans foundations, lipsticks, mascaras, brushes, serums, masks and other beauty essentials, all positioned at accessible price points. e.l.f. Beauty maintains a direct-to-consumer platform through its e-commerce site and engages in widespread retail partnerships with major chains such as Target, Walmart, Ulta Beauty and Amazon.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Oakland, California, e.l.f.