Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) gapped down prior to trading on Friday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $580.00 to $520.00. The stock had previously closed at $425.11, but opened at $413.83. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $415.94, with a volume of 112,565 shares.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $561.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Carret Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 98.8% in the 1st quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 71.1% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 91,284 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $47,730,000 after acquiring an additional 37,932 shares during the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 28,251 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $14,772,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,495,000. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,253,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 2.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $19.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $514.01 and a 200-day moving average of $467.55.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.68 EPS. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ulta Beauty Company Profile

Ulta Beauty, Inc operates as a specialty beauty retailer in the United States. The company offers branded and private label beauty products, including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools through its Ulta Beauty stores, shop-in-shops, Ulta.com website, and its mobile applications.