StockNews.com Upgrades Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) to Hold

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

ULTA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $450.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $425.29.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 0.1 %

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $403.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.31. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $318.17 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $368.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $409.95.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 23.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.1% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 620,793 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $239,545,000 after buying an additional 76,721 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth $263,192,000. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 47.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 476,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $246,862,000 after purchasing an additional 153,727 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 422,801 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $163,149,000 after acquiring an additional 24,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 357,503 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $186,933,000 after acquiring an additional 4,344 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.