Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Earns “Hold” Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a $438.00 price objective on the specialty retailer’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $585.00.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on ULTA. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $561.29.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 2.7 %

ULTA opened at $413.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $511.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $467.62. Ulta Beauty has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 26.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 125.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,530,543 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $717,932,000 after buying an additional 852,258 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $614,568,000 after purchasing an additional 556,809 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth $263,192,000. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 405.9% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 631,477 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $309,417,000 after purchasing an additional 506,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth $176,753,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.