Short Interest in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Declines By 20.1%

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, a decline of 20.1% from the September 15th total of 2,880,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 4.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $395.00 to $390.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Raymond James cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Loop Capital cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $412.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $423.67.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock traded up $1.41 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $370.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 526,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 956,773. Ulta Beauty has a 52 week low of $318.17 and a 52 week high of $574.76. The stock has a market cap of $17.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $370.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $389.74.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for 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 54.02%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 23.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $176,753,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 210.4% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 271,550 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $141,988,000 after purchasing an additional 184,060 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 87.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 337,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $130,380,000 after acquiring an additional 157,497 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 47.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 476,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $246,862,000 after acquiring an additional 153,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 544,072 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $284,484,000 after purchasing an additional 136,725 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by 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.