5,326 Shares in e.l.f. Beauty $ELF Bought by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems acquired 5,326 shares of e.l.f. Beauty's stock for about $663,000 in the second quarter, indicating institutional confidence in the brand.
• e.l.f. Beauty has received multiple upgraded ratings and target price increases from various research firms, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, reflecting a positive outlook for the company.
• CEO Tarang Amin sold over $15 million worth of e.l.f. Beauty shares, reducing his ownership by 58.71%, which may raise investor concerns about insider trading activity.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $663,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty in the first quarter worth $33,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 167.9% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 627 shares of the company's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 56.5% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 676 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 577.7% in the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty during the second quarter valued at $106,000. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ELF. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $130.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $137.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Tarang Amin sold 116,315 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.24, for a total value of $15,381,495.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,819,612.32. This represents a 58.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott Milsten sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.23, for a total transaction of $2,253,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 97,406 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,633,303.38. The trade was a 13.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 301,060 shares of company stock valued at $40,994,733. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ELF opened at $122.84 on Friday. e.l.f. Beauty has a 1 year low of $49.40 and a 1 year high of $150.99. The company has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 3.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $131.82 and a 200-day moving average of $109.44.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.05. e.l.f. Beauty had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 16.36%. The company had revenue of $353.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $348.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that e.l.f. Beauty will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current 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.

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