Jennison Associates LLC Grows Stock Position in e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF)

Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 615,799 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 70,020 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned 1.09% of e.l.f. Beauty worth $77,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ELF. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 39.5% during the 3rd 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 during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,665,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,557,000 after purchasing an additional 59,248 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,186,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,393,000 after buying an additional 61,524 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty during the third quarter valued at approximately $121,558,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 2.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 955,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,158,000 after buying an additional 24,778 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Down 6.5 %

ELF stock opened at $93.41 on Tuesday. e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.20 and a 12 month high of $221.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.36.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $301.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.43 million. e.l.f. Beauty had a net margin of 8.87% and a return on equity of 19.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ELF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on e.l.f. Beauty in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $133.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $220.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of e.l.f. Beauty from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $139.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.47.

Insider Activity at e.l.f. Beauty

In other e.l.f. Beauty news, Director Maureen C. Watson sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott Milsten sold 530 shares of e.l.f. Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.60, for a total value of $72,928.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 68,853 shares in the company, valued at $9,474,172.80. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,205 shares of company stock worth $297,442 in the last three months. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.