Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $580.00 to $520.00. The stock had previously closed at $425.11, but opened at $413.83. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $415.94, with a volume of 112,565 shares changing hands.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on ULTA. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $610.00 to $585.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 value of $263,130.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 1,260 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 72 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 554 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $511.83 and a 200-day moving average of $467.62.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.