BMO Capital Markets Cuts Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Price Target to $385.00

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price objective cut by BMO Capital Markets from $500.00 to $385.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $438.00 to $412.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $552.00 to $448.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $436.83.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $352.84 on Friday. Ulta Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $318.17 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The stock has a market cap of $16.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $372.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $425.38.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.91%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.02 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 23.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total value of $252,642.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,643,412.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 83.3% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 490.0% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 59 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.