Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Trading Down 1.3%

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)’s stock price fell 1.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $368.57 and last traded at $368.70. 105,163 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 932,957 shares. The stock had previously closed at $373.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. Raymond James lowered shares of Ulta Beauty from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $500.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $412.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $450.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $425.29.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 1.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $17.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $369.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $416.15.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at $786,791.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total value of $252,642.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at $2,643,412.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $786,791.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 120.2% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 14,448 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,079,000 after acquiring an additional 7,887 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 92.8% during the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 7,278 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,806,000 after purchasing an additional 3,504 shares during the period. Broad Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth about $10,412,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 10.2% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 89,799 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $46,954,000 after buying an additional 8,337 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 5.3% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,778 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

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.