Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Short Interest Update

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,360,000 shares, a decrease of 13.6% from the February 13th total of 2,730,000 shares. Approximately 5.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 949,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $343.83 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $381.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $386.80. Ulta Beauty has a 52-week low of $309.01 and a 52-week high of $535.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,935 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $520,587,000 after buying an additional 11,205 shares during the period. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at $430,674,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter valued at $359,480,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 655,561 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $285,123,000 after buying an additional 9,291 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 610,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $237,519,000 after purchasing an additional 31,540 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $415.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $427.13.

About Ulta Beauty

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.