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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on ULTA. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Raymond James cut shares of Ulta Beauty from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating and decreased their target price for the company from $500.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $395.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $450.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $328.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $425.29.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.3 %

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $402.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $368.01 and a 200-day moving average of $408.95. The firm has a market cap of $19.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.68, 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.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.02 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 23.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth $263,192,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth $870,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 26,323 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,898,000 after purchasing an additional 7,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

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.