Joshua Allen Franks Sells 23,535 Shares of e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) Stock

Key Points

• e.l.f. Beauty SVP Joshua Allen Franks sold 23,535 shares on April 27 at an average price of $63.66 for about $1.498 million, cutting his stake by 16.62% to 118,071 shares (≈$7.52M).
• The company reported a strong quarter with EPS $1.24 (vs. $0.72 est.) and revenue of $489.5M (up 37.8% year-over-year) and issued FY2026 EPS guidance of 3.05–3.10.
• Shares are trading near $62.85 amid analyst price-target cuts and concern over large, concentrated insider selling by multiple executives; the street consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with a $106.44 average price target.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF - Get Free Report) SVP Joshua Allen Franks sold 23,535 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $1,498,238.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 118,071 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,516,399.86. This represents a 16.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ELF traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $62.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,477,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,264,980. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.83. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $73.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.98. e.l.f. Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $58.05 and a fifty-two week high of $150.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.76.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $489.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $461.78 million. e.l.f. Beauty had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 6.84%.The firm's revenue was up 37.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. e.l.f. Beauty has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.050-3.100 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that e.l.f. Beauty will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ELF. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $115.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of e.l.f. Beauty from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $115.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised e.l.f. Beauty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.44.

Institutional Trading of e.l.f. Beauty

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 29.3% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 384 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 1.9% in the third quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 5,426 shares of the company's stock valued at $719,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 7.1% in the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,595 shares of the company's stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 2.7% in the third quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,442 shares of the company's stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 58.5% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 317 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting e.l.f. Beauty

Here are the key news stories impacting e.l.f. Beauty this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Brand marketing lift — e.l.f. is sponsoring Katherine Legge’s return to the Indianapolis 500, a consumer-facing activation that supports awareness in a mainstream audience and reinforces the company’s direct-to-consumer and mass-market positioning. Indy 500 Sponsorship
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent fundamentals remain supportive — e.l.f. delivered a strong fiscal quarter (revenue and EPS beats earlier this year) and set FY26 EPS guidance, which provides some support under the share price even as investors debate margin risks. (No external link)
• Negative Sentiment: Large, concentrated insider selling on April 27 — multiple senior executives (including CEO Tarang Amin) sold blocks of shares totaling roughly 157,000 shares on that date (about $10M at the transaction price). Insider trimming at scale is spooking some investors and can signal confidence/timing concerns. SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target reset — Robert W. Baird lowered its price target from $115 to $90 while keeping an “Outperform” rating; the cut reduces street upside and likely contributed to selling pressure. Baird PT Cut
• Negative Sentiment: Tariff and margin concerns — analysts and commentators have highlighted rising tariff-related costs and concentrated China-based production as risks that could compress gross margins in fiscal 2026, renewing investor sensitivity to any cost or supply‑chain headlines. Tariff/Cost Analysis

e.l.f. Beauty Company Profile

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.

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