Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Sunday morning.

URBN has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Urban Outfitters from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Urban Outfitters from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Urban Outfitters from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Urban Outfitters from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Urban Outfitters in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Urban Outfitters presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.91.

Urban Outfitters Price Performance

URBN opened at $67.20 on Friday. Urban Outfitters has a 12 month low of $35.66 and a 12 month high of $80.71. The stock has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $70.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.22.

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.14. Urban Outfitters had a return on equity of 18.43% and a net margin of 8.15%.The firm had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Urban Outfitters will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Urban Outfitters

In other news, Director Mary Egan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.12, for a total transaction of $70,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $999,210. This trade represents a 6.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Tricia D. Smith sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.77, for a total value of $237,218.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $703,072.29. This represents a 25.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 44,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,738 in the last three months. 31.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Urban Outfitters

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of URBN. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Urban Outfitters in the first quarter worth $43,769,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Urban Outfitters in the second quarter worth $55,429,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in shares of Urban Outfitters by 59.1% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,287,096 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $93,366,000 after buying an additional 477,909 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Urban Outfitters by 150.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 617,527 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $44,795,000 after buying an additional 371,058 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners acquired a new position in Urban Outfitters in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,380,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.61% of the company’s stock.

About Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters, Inc engages in the retail and wholesale of general consumer products. The company operates through three segments: Retail, Wholesale, and Nuuly. It operates Urban Outfitters stores, which offer women's and men's fashion apparel, activewear, intimates, footwear, accessories, home goods, electronics, and beauty products for young adults aged 18 to 28; and Anthropologie stores that provide women's apparel, accessories, intimates, shoes, and home furnishings, as well as gifts, decorative items, and beauty and wellness products for women aged 28 to 45.