Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Price Target Lowered to $520.00 at TD Cowen

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its target price cut by analysts at TD Cowen from $580.00 to $520.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 25.76% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $610.00 to $585.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $561.29.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 2.7 %

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $413.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $511.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $467.62. Ulta Beauty has a 52 week low of $368.02 and a 52 week high of $574.76.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.68 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 26.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 364.3% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 59.1% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.