Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,550,000 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the March 31st total of 1,280,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 826,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA opened at $406.39 on Monday. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $500.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $469.42. The firm has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 at this hyperlink. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. 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. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Nvwm LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 72 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.3% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nkcfo LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Nkcfo LLC now owns 183 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ULTA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $556.52.

About Ulta Beauty

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.