e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) Short Interest Down 36.2% in July

Posted by Stanley Muller on Jul 31st, 2026

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 7,643,710 shares, a decline of 36.2% from the June 30th total of 11,978,483 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,737,886 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 13.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Catherine Hartnett sold 25,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $2,028,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,295,920. This represents a 46.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Scott Milsten sold 4,162 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total value of $214,467.86. Following the transaction, the insider owned 144,581 shares in the company, valued at $7,450,258.93. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 121,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,351,493. 3.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 3,131.7% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 924,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,330,000 after purchasing an additional 896,282 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in e.l.f. Beauty by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,487,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,255,000 after purchasing an additional 140,258 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in e.l.f. Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,895,000. Delta Global Management LP purchased a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,227,000. Finally, Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in e.l.f. Beauty by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 188,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,366,000 after buying an additional 48,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ELF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $80.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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 note on Thursday, May 21st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Evercore assumed coverage on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued an “inline” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.75.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on e.l.f. Beauty

e.l.f. Beauty Trading Up 0.9%

e.l.f. Beauty stock traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $82.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,669,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,823,874. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $67.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.60. The firm has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 180.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.59. e.l.f. Beauty has a 12-month low of $48.82 and a 12-month high of $150.99.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.03. e.l.f. Beauty had a return on equity of 11.02% and a net margin of 1.61%.The firm had revenue of $449.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $423.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. e.l.f. Beauty has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.270-3.320 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that e.l.f. Beauty will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

About e.l.f. Beauty

(Get Free Report)

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.