Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) PT Lowered to $520.00

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at TD Cowen from $580.00 to $520.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. TD Cowen’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 25.76% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James dropped 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barclays increased their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $561.29.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $413.50 on Thursday. Ulta Beauty has a 12-month low of $368.02 and a 12-month high of $574.76. The stock has a market cap of $19.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $511.83 and a 200 day moving average of $467.62.

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

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ULTA. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 364.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Vima LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 59.1% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.