Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $85.3636.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Urban Outfitters from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Zacks Research downgraded Urban Outfitters from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Urban Outfitters in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Urban Outfitters from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Urban Outfitters from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th.

Insider Transactions at Urban Outfitters

In other Urban Outfitters news, insider Margaret Hayne sold 9,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.97, for a total value of $690,362.01. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,402,723 shares in the company, valued at $177,729,420.31. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard A. Hayne sold 10,667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.46, for a total transaction of $751,596.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 18,027,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,270,248,581.94. The trade was a 0.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 104,400 shares of company stock valued at $7,603,338 over the last 90 days. 31.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Urban Outfitters

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Urban Outfitters by 900.1% during the third quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 969,999 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $69,287,000 after acquiring an additional 873,008 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Urban Outfitters during the third quarter worth $60,795,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Urban Outfitters during the 1st quarter worth $43,769,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Urban Outfitters in the second quarter valued at about $55,429,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Urban Outfitters by 5,360.2% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 618,152 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $44,155,000 after acquiring an additional 606,831 shares in the last quarter. 77.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Urban Outfitters Price Performance

NASDAQ:URBN opened at $75.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.20. Urban Outfitters has a 1 year low of $41.89 and a 1 year high of $80.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.76.

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 25th. The apparel retailer reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.09. Urban Outfitters had a return on equity of 18.33% and a net margin of 8.15%.The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Urban Outfitters will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

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.